A Believer's Circle
by Mjrn
Summary: Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are sent out on a mission to investigate a cult and a strange string of murders. When they arrive they uncover clues that point to an unlikely source--Xanatos. Obi-Wan, in disguise, finds himself getting closer to the enemy. Xan x Obi
1. Chapter 1: The Dawning

**Author's Note:** This is my first Jedi Apprentice fanfic. Forgive me if I have any information wrong; it's been more than six years since I've read the Jedi Apprentice books. Also, I don't know the exact age of Xanatos, at any point in the series, so I am just going to assume that Xanatos is roughly 8 years older than Obi-Wan. And, with that philosophy, I am going to make Obi-Wan 19. If he was 18, then Xanatos would have to be 26, which seems like a much larger gap in mentality and maturity than if Obi-Wan was 19 and Xanatos was 27. I had thought about Obi-Wan being 20, but then I think Xanatos would be out of Obi-Wan's range, if that makes any sense.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters or the worlds, except for a few I made up myself for the sake of telling an original story, but the ones you recognize belong to George Lucas and Jude Watson, and I do not profit in any way by writing this story.

**Summary:** When Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon are dispatched to the planet Vlenaria to infiltrate the ranks of a growing number of cultists, they uncover clues that point to the impossible—Qui-Gon's former apprentice whose death was imminent when he crashed into the acid pools. What interest would Xanatos have in these cultists? And how can they stop his influence in the cult before he threatens the peace within the Vlenarian kingdom? As circumstances turn dire, Obi-Wan is forced to face the blindingly blatant feelings he has for the ex-Jedi and make a bone chilling choice that could either leave him broken or label him as the enemy himself. Xanatos x Obi-Wan pairing

**A Believer's Circle**

_Chapter 1_

As Obi-Wan expected, the ride to the planet Vlenaria took much longer than he deemed necessary, but he and Qui-Gon Jinn had meant to arrive on the planet undetected. The King, Dag'Mar, had requested help from the Jedi Temple with cultists who had suddenly sprouted up over night, it seemed, and were…well, disturbing the peace. Dag'Mar did not elaborate much, except to mention that there was a peculiar string of murders that accompanied the advent of these cultists. What was peculiar about them was beyond Obi-Wan, but he would soon find out.

They had left a few days ago, only a day after Obi-Wan's nineteenth birthday. There wasn't much of a celebration, but Bant and Garen had spent the free day with him, and they had plenty of time to enjoy catching up. The only thing strange about that, though, was a question posed by Bant. She had looked at him serenely and asked softly, "Do you feel any differently, Obi-Wan?"

He had replied that he didn't feel much differently, but now that he had plenty of time to think to himself and review the past year, he wondered if he felt the same exact way on his eighteenth birthday as he did on his nineteenth. He had experienced and learned so much that no amount of measurements could possibly be used to compare, so he had to feel _something_ else he didn't feel before. Perhaps he was wiser, but he didn't _feel_ any wiser. He still felt a little insecure about a certain number of things, there were still facts and information about which he felt shaky, there were maneuvers he still needed to practice. With that, he concluded that he was different but the 

same. He knew more than he had at eighteen, but because he knew more, he also had more questions about that new knowledge. It was a relentless cycle.

Qui-Gon joined him on the deck, staring out the window at the planet they were approaching, and informed him that they would be leaving in about twenty minutes.

"Will someone meet us there?" Obi-Wan asked, mildly, almost absently, his hands buried in the folds of the billowing sleeves of his Jedi cloak.

"Not at the station, I'm afraid," replied Qui-Gon promptly. "We'll need to do some traveling before meeting up with anyone sent from the king. He will not take any chances, consorting with the Jedi in public, where anyone of the cult might see. It will be obvious why he consulted us, and our cover would be blown before we could investigate. Their defenses would be almost impenetrable. We'll have to be more discreet."

Obi-Wan soaked it in silently and then turned to study his master. "How long will we have to wait?"

"They expect us to arrive at the designated place tonight, so we won't wait for long. Will that be a problem?" asked Qui-Gon with a hint of amusement sparkling in his eyes.

"Not at all, master," Obi-Wan immediately stated. "It was just a question."

Qui-Gon nodded towards the bluish-green planet. "Did you review what we know about this Vlenaria?"

Obi-Wan's eyebrows furrowed at the question. "I thought we were past these quizzes, now that I am nineteen."

"I just want to make sure you refreshed your background information," he said lightly enough, but his face darkened when he added, "because I have a feeling that we will be separated for this particular mission."

"What makes you think that?"

"It's just a feeling. I don't think that it would be wise for us to both go undercover in this instance and, even if we did, we couldn't be together. It would look odd. That's why I wanted you to be as prepared as you could be."

Obi-Wan wanted to tell him that he was not a thirteen year old boy anymore, that he had overcome much of his disadvantages—his clumsiness, his rashness, even his impatience, for the most part—but settled on showing it rather than telling. He nodded, his face blank, "I understand. What would you like to know?"

So they spent the remainder of the twenty minutes discussing the politics, history, and economics of the Vlenarians, and when the announcement was made that they had landed, they proceeded to the exit.

The first thing Obi-Wan noticed about the new world was its beauty. It was a cultural society, attached to its roots, and it showed through their ancient buildings in which they lived. Though, it seemed, these structures could have been mistaken for ruins, they were not, and they had been revamped for the newer generations. Obi-Wan could tell apart the old structures from the new ones, as the older ones were in the center of the city, despite the fact that the newer ones were modeled after the older ones. The palace, however, loomed at the very center of the city, almost exactly, on a slight incline so it could be seen from all corners of the capital.

The temperature was just right, only a tad bit cold in the morning, and the sun shone happily through the speckles of clouds in the blue sky. It seemed such a lively place, with people wearing bright colors, all streaming up and down the bustling streets, with the loud laughter and conversations; Obi-Wan couldn't imagine this being the target of a cult. It seemed so peaceful, but he supposed that was why Dag'Mar was so adamant that the Jedi make haste on their journey. More murders and a steadily increasing number of cultists could lead to a very fast decline into chaos in a place where crime had never been officially established.

They slipped in line with a caravan of merchants who intended to rest for the night in the city of their destination, talking with few people and making it very clear they did not wish to be disturbed, though Qui-Gon did talk with the woman, Desina, who seemed to be the leader of their caravan, quite often.

They arrived with little distraction and few breaks. The city, encompassed by tall, golden grass and oak trees, was not much of a sight, when coming from a grand capital like Vlenaria's Placent Nar, but it possessed some of its own beauty, namely the river that coursed through the center, branching off in two or three directions. They used these tributaries and the main waterway as means of transportation, since this was a major trading city within the planet.

As they came to the mouth of the city, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan separated from the caravan and made their way to an out-of-the-way pub where they were supposed to meet one of the king's men for more information. It was located in the outskirts of town, somewhere on the shore of the river. There were some more merchants here, but it was mainly the hired hands and packers. Obi-Wan started to wonder aloud how they would know to whom they should speak for information, but Qui-Gon silenced him with a slight shake of his head.

"The king's man will know, and he will come to us," was all he decided to say on the matter.

By the time they had settled in the darkest corner and had a bite to eat, the sun had already set and left the land in darkness. Obi-Wan tried not to look so sullen waiting, after all, he was supposed to show his master that he had overcome his impatience and so on, and so he couldn't very well sulk. Making conversation was difficult when Qui-Gon was thinking about the mission at hand, so he focused on his food, which didn't taste very good, but, again, he couldn't complain about it when he was trying to be as Jedi-like as possible. He was well on his way to the trials to 

become a Jedi, and he needed to be prepared for the worst. Missions like these were mini-tests, and he needed to take them seriously.

It was just then that a woman, dressed in an inconspicuous black cloak, strode past their table, lightly touching the table as if to reinforce her balance. She had passed by so naturally, but both Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon knew that was the king's messenger. She had left a small, opalescent disk where she had let her fingers linger for a split second. It stared up at Obi-Wan, hidden from the views of everyone else in the room by the spice jars, and he reached up to grab it. At Qui-Gon's quick intake of breath, Obi-Wan knew he had done something wrong, that reaching out immediately would make it seem like her passing was staged, especially to someone who was looking for that. So Obi-Wan suavely grabbed a spice jar and poured the powdery substance onto his plate, returning it to its rightful position behind the others. Qui-Gon nodded.

Obi-Wan had to fight the urge to snatch the disk the entire time they sat in the pub. Only when they stood up to leave was he allowed to take it, but then he had to wait until they came to their room at the local inn to watch it.

Their room had two sleep couches, each one the other side of the room, and a bathroom. It was a plain room, with movement-sensitive lights, which he hadn't expected on a planet such as this. He sat on the sleep couch and held the disk on his palm for Qui-Gon to see as well. Then he played it.

The woman they had seen in the bar was the woman who was now in front of them in the form of a hologram. She flickered a little bit at first, but then her image smoothed out. "Meet me in the Highlifts after midnight. Make sure you are not followed. I trust you can enter the room undetected. The room is fifteen hundred."

Then the disk exploded in Obi-Wan's palm, and he jerked back in surprise. He rubbed his palm on his tunic, wishing it hadn't stung so much and blatantly surprised him. Qui-Gon hadn't budged at all. In recovery, Obi-Wan remarked, "I've never been on a mission that seemed so…sneaky."

"Dire circumstances require dire measures. Perhaps we underestimated the seriousness of this cult. The sooner we meet up with her, the sooner we will get the information to judge the situation clearly."

"And the sooner we can do something." That was Obi-Wan's main concern.

"If you are so bored, why don't we go over some moves?"

Obi-Wan sank down into the sleep couch's stiff cushion. "I'll meditate."

"Excellent choice, padawan. I think I'll join you."

Meditation could be tedious work sometimes, but it was relaxing and it relieved him of his growing anxiousness. He closed his eyes and focused on the tranquility that enveloped him, the 

force, the air, everything. It was when he was just about ready to stop that he felt a ripple, faint but sinister all the same. When he opened his eyes, Qui-Gon was watching him carefully.

"So you felt it, too." It was not a question.

"Just now," replied Obi-Wan honestly. "How long have you known?"

"Since we arrived on the planet."

"Any idea who it might be?"

"There are countless of people willing to do evil in this universe. I can't know them all. But I can bet that whoever it is has something to do with this new cult," answered Qui-Gon as he stood to his full, daunting height. He nodded to the window. "It's just about time that we headed on to the meeting."

_Finally_, thought Obi-Wan as he followed Qui-Gon into the hall, the dura-steel door hissing shut behind them.

The inn wasn't much further from their own. They walked in the cover of darkness, making hardly more sound than a feather dropping onto a pillow. She requested that they enter undetected, and they would make sure she got her wish. They slipped in through the back, looking for viewers, and climbed the stairs in the fire escape to the fifteenth floor. Thanks to his rigorous training, that did not prove to be as difficult as it seemed.

The room fifteen hundred was not locked. The door slid open as soon as they stood in front of it and slid shut as soon as they were inside. It wasn't much more decorated than the inn at which they were currently staying, but it had a table in the very center, where they would no doubt get their official orders. Obi-Wan felt alarmed to find that it was completely vacant, except for them, and he glanced over to Qui-Gon, who had his hand on the hilt of his lightsaber.

The door hissed from behind them. They swirled around to see the black-clad woman they had encountered earlier. She wore the same cloak, but the hood was off to give them a better view of her face. Her skin was translucent and displayed her bluish veins, as was common among the Vlenarians, but she had raging red eyes that, Obi-Wan was sure, was uncommon among these people. Her shiny white hair had been pulled back and tied in a tight knot with two hairpins, each with the royal signet engraved in gold on them. She nodded her greetings hastily and gestured for them to sit at the table.

"Greetings, Jedi."

"Greetings," returned Qui-Gon, sitting at the table. Obi-Wan only nodded and followed suit.

The woman did not sit but stood, still with her back to the door, and folded her arms across her chest. "I apologize for the shadiness of our meeting. I hope you understand that these are critical times for the Vlenarians."

"We do, and we are here to help in any way we can."

She acknowledged his statement with a nod and visibly relaxed, hunching her shoulders a little and putting both hands on the chair in front of her. "That is what we have all been praying for, Jedi. I apologize again. I seem have to forgotten proper protocol. My name is Vlarina."

"The princess?" Obi-Wan couldn't help but say aloud.

She smiled. "Yes, I am the princess. I carry out official business when my father is unable to. I have a gift for being unseen when I want to be. And now is one of those times. They did not give me word on who was coming. What are your names?"

"I am Qui-Gon Jinn, and this is my apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"It is good to finally see you here, Master Jinn, Obi-Wan. I will feel safer knowing that you are nearby."

"Tell me, princess," prompted Qui-Gon, "what exactly is the problem with these cultists?"

At this, she slipped into the seat gracefully and laced her fingers together before her on the table. "Yes, that would be the question. I suppose it all began a few months ago. A farmer had been out in his fields somewhere on the southern continent when he came across the body of a boy. The boy was no older than ten, and he was sure it was the son of a nearby count who had gone missing a few days before. It seemed as if the farmer was the one behind it, so the count detained him, but a few other similar reports sprouted up around the south counties. It was spaced out, too. When we charted it on a map, it had gone in one direct line, from the farthest reaches of the kingdom towards the heart of it."

"Only nobles' children?"

"No, there were a few others who had been found who were just ordinary people, young and old. But around the same time, people started to notice a group of wanderers wearing all black robes with a red circle on the breast and carrying torches when they marched at night, apparently they sleep during the day. Like me, they can go undetected if they wish, and so these sightings have been rather rare, but there have been enough of them to make us wonder. It was when my sister went missing that my father started to really pay attention."

Vlarina paused a second, taking a moment to gulp in air as if the thought of her sister was too much for her and then continued. "When the guards found her, she was sprawled across a stone altar, with her eyes missing and her ring finger missing. Also, we also found a broken circle carved into her flesh on her chest."

"I'm sorry," Qui-Gon said when the silence persisted. It was clear that her sister was deeply mourned.

"No one knows of her fate just yet. We thought that such a thing would cause a panic among our people, so we would greatly appreciate it if you do not mention this to anyone."

"We won't."

"My father had the Chief Investigator, that's me, look into it more. I went on an expedition with some of my finest detectives into the south, where the cult first appeared, to speak with those who had found the bodies. They all said that same thing—the eyes were missing, the ring finger was missing, and there was a carving on the chest. We decided that we needed someone on the inside, to find out more information. I couldn't go—my father would never allow it. So I sent a young woman, Jensina, to execute the job. She hasn't come back since, nor have we heard any word from her. That is why we ask for your help. We cannot take action until we know for sure that they are the culprits."

"What would you have us do?" By the look on Qui-Gon's face, Obi-Wan could tell that he already had an idea and was planning out details as they spoke.

"I would like someone on the inside and someone to help me with some other detective work. The cult appeals more to the young than to adults, so I would suggest that Obi-Wan go undercover."

He nodded, although that did not imply he was ready to go along with her suggestion without conferring with Obi-Wan in private. "Is there anything else?"

"I can supply you with the information that we know of this cult, but it's not much more than I've already told you, which is pretty close to nothing. I can also supply you with the cult robes and a plan to get you on the inside. Other than that, there isn't much I can do for you here. So, will you do it?" she asked.

"I will need to speak to my padawan privately before I can agree."

"I will step outside, then." She bowed her head and walked out.

After a moment, Obi-Wan said, "Do you think—?"

"Not now. Let's just focus on the problem at hand. Would you be willing to go undercover again?"

"Yes."

"And you understand how dangerous this will be?"

"Yes."

"And you are sure?"

"Yes."

Qui-Gon fell into a pensive silence before he asked in a lowered voice, "What do you make of this situation?"

Obi-Wan shrugged. "I don't know. There isn't much information. I feel the same as I did before we arrived. I guess I won't know what to make of it until after I'm wearing the robes."

"Eagerness does not always mean bravery, Obi-Wan. This might be one of those times when we should wait a little before making any rash decisions. Putting you in that cult when we know nothing of it is a risk that is very possible to end in disaster, especially because you will be expected to know much of it if you want to join. You will be there all by yourself, remember."

"I can handle it," Obi-Wan assured him, feeling a prick of annoyance at Qui-Gon's distrust.

"Do not let it swallow you, Obi-Wan," said Qui-Gon gently. "There is something very sinister about this cult."

As if he couldn't see that already. "I know. I am willing to do it."

"All right."

When Vlarina returned, she waited expectantly for the answer. When told, she offered Obi-Wan a sympathetic smile. "They take initiates at night, so we will wait until tomorrow night. And for tomorrow, you will learn as much as you can about them, so we can ensure your safety to the best of our abilities. We will meet in a private room in a underground place called Flidell's. It's on the other side of town, beside the grand library. It won't be hard to miss. Good luck."

She exited with a slight bow, and Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan stood up to leave.

Upon Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon's return to their room, they sat on their sleep couches, facing one another, each delving deeply into their own thoughts. Finally, Obi-Wan voiced the questions that had been swarming through his head throughout the entire meeting. "Broken circles? Isn't that Offworld's symbol? Xanatos's symbol? He's supposed to be _dead_."

"I was surprised to hear it, too, padawan," murmured Qui-Gon. "Very."

"What would a greedy corporation like that want with a cult? I don't see much profit in it."

"Neither do I, but I'm sure you will find out. And if Xanatos is back, somehow, then you must be extra careful. He is a clever man, and he always remembers a face."

"But how, master? Is it possible he really survived it?"

"No, but it is possible he staged his death and made it believable. I never would have thought it, though."

Obi-Wan ran his fingers through his sandy blond hair, thinking. Xanatos in a cult? Why didn't that seem to click? What could Xanatos possible attain by being a member of or starting a cult? "And why would he—or they—cut off the ring finger and gouge out the eyes?"

Qui-Gon swept his legs over the side of the sleep couch and lay flat on his back, his hands resting flat on his stomach. "To ask those questions would be pointless, Obi-Wan. Right now, you should focus on your own well-being and rest. Who knows when you will be able to rest again?"

"You're right, but I just can't seem to clear my mind of it." Obi-Wan fingered the rough black robes and followed the outline of the blood-red circle on the chest of it. He knew that asking the same question over and over again would not give him the answer ever, but the situation was absurd. How could Xanatos be alive? Why would he be with a cult? Why didn't Qui-Gon seem, in any way, disturbed? The sudden prospect of Xanatos's re-emergence into the universe was very grave news indeed for the Temple, since Xanatos wanted nothing more than to obliterate it from existence. He had tried it once, he could do so again.

What was worse, Obi-Wan realized as he sank into the bed and Qui-Gon turned off the light, was that if Xanatos recognized him as Qui-Gon's new apprentice—and he would, since he had seen Obi-Wan enough times throughout the years—he would know that Qui-Gon was nearby. He would change his plans for revenge, Obi-Wan knew, and Qui-Gon would be in danger. Worrying was not the Jedi way, and he trusted Qui-Gon to defend himself against the former Jedi, but it would still be his own fault that Qui-Gon was faced with that demise. He supposed it was just better, then, to finish off Xanatos and prevent anymore harm. If Xanatos was their leader, then his death would surely do something to the cult's numbers. Well, he couldn't rightly count on it, he supposed, thinking again.

Obi-Wan closed his eyes and tried to sweep away these thoughts from his head. What was to come would come; there was nothing he could do to stop it. His master was right; he needed to focus on resting up, so he had a clear mind in the morning so he could fill it up with as much information as he could from Vlarina. And then tomorrow night. That was when it would begin—the one thing he knew for certain that would leave him feeling different when it was all over.


	2. Chapter 2: The Initiate

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the rights to _Star Wars_ or _Jedi Apprentice_; they belong to George Lucas, Dave Wolverton, and Jude Watson.

**A Believer's Circle**

_Chapter 2_

_The Initiate_

Obi-Wan fidgeted in the black robes. The rough material felt itchy against his skin and stank of something rotten—he hoped it wasn't human blood that had gotten on the robes and rotted. He couldn't really say, and he didn't have time to wash it. He couldn't complain; they took him in almost like parents taking in a child. All they saw was his robes, and they assumed he had gotten separated from his friends.

The man who had greeted him first was tall and slim with wispy white hair and dark blue eyes. Obi-Wan figured he was no more than twenty-two, having absolutely no markings of time on his facial features and having a very soft spoken voice. Of the two who had found him wandering around, he was the one who spoke first. "My brother, why do you wander by yourself?"

Obi-Wan rolled his shoulders and replied, "I had gotten separated from the group last night, when we were out on a walk."

"I did hear someone say they were missing someone," said the low humming voice of the man's partner. Like most Vlenarian women, she was petite and had a low voice, but it was also a commanding voice, and no one would mistake the tone she had that she was in a high position. "Wasn't it Den'Mar?"

"Gen'Mar, Serina."

The looked at him, as if waiting for him to say that was he. Wondering if it would be completely wise to go in the guise of Gen'Mar, especially when this man could come back just as easily, he hesitated. Perhaps once he was at their base, he could slip into the shadows and leave the name Gen'Mar behind. So he nodded. "That's me. You can call me Gen, though." He was thankful the hood of the robes veiled his face from their eyes—it would be more than obvious that he wasn't Gen'Mar just by his darker skin and hazel eyes.

"You may return with us, then, Brother Gen. Just in case you didn't already know, I am Brother Sy'Mar and this is Sister Serina. We just finished—"

"We're heading back to the cave," Serina interrupted abruptly. "Let's go."

Actually, Vlarina wasn't far off from the correct location of the hideout. Their walk was very short, and it was entirely in silence. Only Sy'Mar carried a torch, but the light was sufficient enough to emanate around them and light up their surroundings. Obi-Wan made an effort to take in all the details of their walk—which direction they had gone from Vlarina's mark, how far they had walked, and, mainly, any points of interest that was around the cave.

They stopped short of an old ruin, pale white stone stained brown from the years of neglect and isolation. It wasn't exceedingly beautiful since the walls were broken into many pieces and only fragments remained standing, not even enough to give hint as to the shape of the initial structure. When they were no more than ten paces from the ruin, they traced the red broken circle on their chest from left to right and bowed their heads in complete reverence. Obi-Wan did not hesitate to do the same, and although the move was different and unpracticed, it felt almost familiar to him. He shivered and tried to clear his mind of such thoughts.

Serina stirred from their moments of reverence first. She walked up to a pile of rubble and flung a wooden slab from the side, displaying a ladder that lead down into, presumably, their hideout. Sy'Mar waited for Obi-Wan to enter first, and then followed closely behind him as they made their descent. The hole was almost too small for Obi-Wan's 19-year-old frame, but he forced himself down. "You eat too much," Serina told him with a hint of amusement as she stood waiting at the bottom for him to touch ground. When his feet were firmly on the floor, Sy'Mar dropped the rest of the way down and landed suavely on the floor.

"I'm afraid that is my biggest weakness," replied Obi-Wan, feeling grateful for the silhouette of his deep hood that covered his human face from the two.

Sy'Mar clamped his hands on his back, laughing. "Don't worry about that, my brother. Here you are among your family and we will make sure to perfect any bad habits. We are here to support one another. We will get you back into shape as soon as possible. Now I assume you know how to find your peers?"

"Of course," replied Obi-Wan. "They must be worried about me."

"I think so, too. Serina, come, we still have some…business to take care of."

They left him in the circular room and went down a long hallway, mostly made of a stone Obi-Wan had never seen before. He paused before going after them, wondering how he would go about doing this. He would need to find out what the routine was, so none of his behavior could look peculiar. If he was to spy on the leader, he would, first and foremost, need to know just who the leader was and the times do to it that wouldn't cast suspicious light on him. He approved of the hoods, since they aided him more than he originally thought they would, but he needed to figure out how they recognized their friends; if everyone looked alike, how could they? He conjured up images of Serina and wondered how, besides using the force and hearing her voice, he could recognize her as so. She wore the black and red robes made from the same rough material as Sy'Mar's, her hood covered her face and she wore black boots. Nothing different.

He forced his feet to move and soon emerged from the hallway into a cavernous room. Only a few people stood there, but none were the two he had already met, and none of them moved to approach him. They stood on a tight group, but their conversation wasn't exactly low key, but the topic didn't sound too shady. They were just discussing a comrade.

"Where was he?" asked one.

"Probably in the lab room," answers the second.

"He spends all his time there," said the first.

"My theory is that he just _says_ he's there. I don't think he's ever here," intoned the third.

"And where do you think he is? In the mess hall, eating when we're all not allowed to? He's nothing like you."

"Anyway, that's when she came in. I'm pretty sure there's some sort of drama playing out. She thinks he cheated on her."

"With who? Marina?"

"Not me," replied, Obi-Wan guessed, Marina. "I hardly even know him."

"No, it's worse than Marina."

"Oh, shut up, Larina."

"It's someone on the _outside_." With that, they fell into an appalled silence, and Obi-Wan scurried past them into the adjoining corridor.

He only encountered a few people as he made his way through, hoping to catch someone by his- or herself and strike up a conversation, but all were in groups. He was preparing himself to walk up and talk to a group of two when they approached him first. "Gen?"

Obi-Wan saw the opportunity and took it. "How'd you know?"

They both took their places on each of his sides and chuckled. They were both male, by the sound of it. "Did you think you could trick us? You're probably the only one in this entire cluster who isn't wearing his indicator ring." Ah, so there it was, they all wore gold bands on their fingers, except each gold band had a different design on it or different names.

"Not to mention Serina told Kahn'Mar she and Sy'Mar found you."

"Yeah, I think she likes me. Notice how she didn't even acknowledge Tyl'Mar's presence when she said so?"

"That's even more proof she likes me—she's shy around me!"

Obi-Wan wondered if these two were Gen'Mar's friends. If they were, they should have realized that the voices didn't match. To him, all the males' voices sounded almost identical, but they could tell each other's voices apart easily, and so they should have been able to notice the difference between Obi-Wan's deeper, human voice and Gen'Mar's soft, Vlenarian voice.

"Oh, right, I'm Kahn'Mar and this is Tyl'Mar. We're the newest representatives of our group. You can put your insignia back on. We would have known you anyway."

"Where is my partner?"

"Klarina? Ah…" Kahn'Mar looked towards Tyl'Mar.

"She's moved on, I'm afraid."

He wondered what "moved on" implied. Perhaps Gen'Mar and Klarina were a couple, but after a day, would she really "move on"?

"No worries, brother, we'll take you under our wing until we can find you another partner. For now, you need to bathe," said Tyl'Mar.

"Yeah, you smell foul. Did you get blood on you from our last excursion?"

"The Father teaches of cleanliness," muttered Tyl'Mar, chuckling. "Don't worry, you're not the worst. I just passed by Daerina—talk about stinky! I don't think she's ever taken a shower."

Kahn'Mar edged closer to the two, lowering his voice so no one outside their ring could hear. "She revels in the sacrificial rites, I hear. Both the Father and the Mother claim we should be more like her, but…I don't know. She's a little too fanatic."

Anyone who went as far as murdering the innocent for his or her…idol was a little too fanatic, Obi-Wan thought.

Tyl'Mar ignored the previous statement a little too conspicuously. "I need to shower, as well. After last night's excursion, I'm starting to smell."

Obi-Wan let them lead him to the showers, hoping to find each shower had its own stall, but once they arrived he realized that it wasn't so. Obi-Wan hesitated. "I'd rather not shower right now. I haven't eaten in a while."

"The shy type," said Kahn'Mar to Tyl'Mar. "I was like that at first, too."

"You were never shy, Kahn." They both tossed their heads back and laughed.

"It was for effect, Tyl. Anyway, you can shower after lights out. Just don't get caught by one of the Servants. You will face some serious charges if you are caught walking around after hours."

"Understood."

"I'll take you down to the mess hall," said Kahn, "while Tyl takes care of his stench." He cackled as they left Tyl'Mar by himself.

The night passed without much action. Kahn and Tyl were enlightening as well as funny and Obi-Wan could tell that they were old acquaintances, and he didn't find out that they were not acquaintances but brothers until the next morning when they were eating breakfast.

"You're brothers?"

"That's right."

"But I thought that—" He stopped himself from asking the obvious question—I thought it was an abomination to have two siblings as the same gender. One was killed—with the exception of the Princess Vlarina and her sister—while the other one continued life as if the other hadn't ever been born. Vlarina had not been killed for the sake of the throne—if anything ever happened to Vlarina's sister, then Vlarina would inherit the throne—but the average people…well, they didn't have much to inherit.

Kahn just grinned. "You thought we were just friends, through the Network? Nah, we were brothers. Tyl wouldn't let his baby brother get killed, so he took us away. We found what they call 'the cult,' what we call 'the family'."

Obi-Wan picked at the bloody meat in front of him, his stomach clenching in disgust. "How old are you? And how old is the…family? I didn't hear about it until recently." Which was mostly true.

"Oh, it's been around, though, even since the Hands arrived, it has made some drastic changes."

Tyl took of a chunk of his robes in his gloved-fist. "Take these, for example. We wore just plain black robes, but the Hands introduced the color red to our robes, as well as the signet. They said we needed a signature—to make people notice and _know_. They are smart."

"The worst is the hoods. We never had to wear them before, but they said it's for our safety, in case some Imperial rats try to spy, they can't name us."

"You must be an initiate. Came here in the past year or so, did you?"

"Yeah. Everyone was wearing hoods when I came," replied Obi-Wan.

"Of course. We were the originals."

"Did we always have human sacrifices?" Obi-Wan ventured.

Kahn shifted in his seat uncomfortably, but Tyl said, "No, that was a recent development as well. But it's for the better. _They_ demand human blood."

Obi-Wan wanted to ask who "they" were, but he refrained. Instead he reached out and took the plastic cup for water. He would need to drink a lot of it, so he felt full without actually eating the…practically raw meat.

"I don't like their breakfasts much, either," said Kahn lightly. "Don't worry, lunch is good."

"Yeah, Kahn will eat everything on your plate if you aren't careful. One time I was just sitting here, talking to Nyrina and I turned away for like a second and I turned back at my pie was missing! Then Kahn was sitting over there looking smug."

Kahn just laughed. "I couldn't help it. I could have sworn it looked like you weren't going to eat it. You never eat the pies!"

"Well, I was going to eat it that day."

"No, I just think you were going to give it to Nyrina," Kahn sang as he stood up with his tray.

"Whatever."

Obi-Wan laughed, feeling almost at home. As they strode out of the mess hall, Tyl pointed to Obi-Wan's hand. "Hey, you still aren't wearing your ring. Did you lose it?"

"Yes."

"You'd better find it soon."

"It's a bitch to replace," said Kahn. "I've lost mine once or twice."

"Three times, actually. Once when you let it go down the drain in the shower, then when you chose a size too big and you were waving your big hands around and it flew right into the trash can—and you refused to dig out again—and the third time is…well, we're not even _sure_ how you lost it!" He turned to Obi-Wan. "Yeah, don't be like Kahn. Either find it quickly or replace it. There's going to be a meeting tonight, so you won't have to worry about replacing it for long. I mean, there are rumors that _they_ have spoken again, demanded more blood. The ring will have their blessing before long."

Interesting…he thought, processing the implications. "I don't worry, but when will the next sacrifice be?"

Kahn looked like he shivered, but Tyl leaned forward to whisper. "We're too low in status to know all the details, but there are rumors it will be in two or three nights' time. Don't know who it will be, though. I hate how only the Hands know, and they don't reveal it until the night of the sacrifice. You know the routine. But I guess it's for the best. They don't want anyone spoiling the blood for _them_."

Obi-Wan wanted to shout, "Who is '_them'_?! Do you ever name _them_?!" Instead, he clenched his fists and sat back, saying, "I see their point."

"Yeah," piped in Kahn, a tad bit sullenly.

They didn't do much during the night, their day, nor did they leave the vicinity. They did walk around and speak with others, played games, and went outside for brief strolls around the ruins. Obi-Wan pried as much information as he could from Kahn and Tyl. He supposed they didn't suspect due to his initiate status—they automatically figured he knew very little. Tyl, the know-it-all, explained the ruins, the history of such and why the Hands chose this particular place for their headquarters. "We marched all over the southern continent, snuck on boats to cross the ocean, and explored the northern continent as well. This went on forever, it seemed! Just to find this rubble! What a waste!" Kahn added to Tyl's monologue.

While Tyl was rattling on, Obi-Wan mentally reviewed the geographical significance of their headquarters. It was nearby the palace but far enough away to stay hidden. It was also near a major city, and, as he saw while exploring, their were synthetic greenhouses sprinkled in the depths of the headquarters to they remained self-sufficient. He also supposed that the king was not informed of the fact that the ruins still had power, food, and water still in working condition. Perhaps everything had been broken at one point and one of the cultists fixed it.

It seemed like the day—night—passed slowly, too slowly. All they did was talk. It was like they only came alive when there was a sacrifice, or at least a gathering about an upcoming sacrifice. It had taken several hours of boring talk—history lessons and tours of the same places repeated over and over again—to pass time. Obi-Wan thought he would die of boredom—_what sort of Jedi was he? I'm supposed to be calm, interested. I'm on a serious mission. People are _dying_. Here I am, bored out of my mind. What would Qui-Gon say? He would suggest I meditate_.

Kahn and Tyl were used to it, so they didn't notice Obi-Wan's fatigue. They spoke animatedly at the luncheon , laughing and joking, teasing some of the girls around them. Obi-Wan recognized the names of Larina and Marina, who happened to sit next to them. Kahn seemed particularly pleased to sit next to Larina, but when Tyl teased him later about it, he insisted he was only here for Serina. They squabbled over Serina for a while until Obi-Wan interrupted. "I think she's strictly reserved for Sy'Mar."

"Sy? Nah," replied Kahn, promptly. "I don't think he likes her."

"I'm sure that doesn't stop her from liking him."

This seemed to trouble Tyl. He put his fork down. Obi-Wan could feel ripples in the force of a little jealousy. "Let's just not talk about that." He stood up and walked out.

Kahn clapped Obi-Wan on the back. "Good job. Now he's going to go sulk in his room for a few hours, until the meeting. And then he's going to bitch and moan about how horrible his life is when Serina isn't in it. He'll do it throughout the meeting, at least until Serina talks to him—actually, she'll just talk to me and he'll automatically assume she's back into him again."

Obi-Wan and Kahn both stood up, dropping their plates on the dishwasher table, where a droid sat, collecting them and cleaning them. They made their way back down the hall. "Hey, let's head to the Meet early. Maybe we will get to see one of the Hands."

"I'd like to talk to one," Obi-Wan said smoothly.

"You and everyone else. Even I haven't met one of the Hands, and I've been around longer than they have!" he exclaimed, quickening his short strides. "But at least we can look. Maybe hear some of their conversations. Maybe they will tell Serina and Sy'Mar who will be sacrificed," he added glumly.

"You don't like the sacrifices, do you, Kahn'Mar?" he asked softly, hoping his voice did not drift much farther from their bodies.

"As if it wasn't obvious."

"I don't feel right about it, either," added Obi-Wan, fishing for a friend in a pool of teethy sharks.

"Don't get caught saying it out loud, Gen. You might find yourself the next sacrifice."

And then Kahn was unwilling to say anything more on the matter. He pointed as they arrived in the room. "There's Serina and Sy'Mar. She looks so shapely. She has the most beautiful face, too. Haven't seen it in ages, though."

"Are all the mars here totally in love with her?" 'Mars' was the term for males in Vlenarian, just as Rinas meant females.

"You can bet. I'm surprised she hasn't gotten your ensnared in her beauty and wits just yet. If she hasn't, she will soon. She's got a whole net full of unlucky bastards like me."

Aside from Serina, Sy'Mar, and themselves, no one else had arrived early. When the two saw Obi-Wan and Kahn, they approached. "Gen?" guessed Sy'Mar.

"That's me."

"I think you forgot your signet. Did you lose it when you were separated? You'll need to see Marina about getting a new one."

"It's okay," said Serina, giggling, "you're the only one here who actually doesn't have their ring on. Everyone can identify you as you."

"Where is your other partner, Kahn? What's his name again?" asked Serina, pressing her palm to her forehead in apologetic thought.

"Tyl'Mar."

"Right. Tyl'Mar. He's always attached at your hip, I'm surprised."

"He's sulking in his room," replied Kahn.

Serina's golden laughter rang through the empty hall. "He does that a lot, too. I wonder what upset him so?"

"It was this Gen. He doesn't know how sensitive Tyl can be."

"He was in a good mood," offered Obi-Wan defensively with a shrug.

"Indeed," said Sy'Mar without a trace of humor in his voice. He sounded bored. "Serina, a moment of your time. People are arriving and…"

"Right. It's good to see you again, Kahn. Tell Tool I said hi and wished him a bloody hunt. Good fortune to you, Gen'Mar." Sy's fingers wrapped around her arm as he pulled her off to the far side, away from the incoming cultists as well as Kahn and Obi –Wan.

"I told you she likes me. She never remembers Tyl's name, but don't tell him, okay? I don't want to make him sulk even more."

Tyl'Mar joined them only a few minutes later, just when the Meet, the gathering place that amounted to a spacious hall, began to overflow with cultists. Loud voices rose to the ceiling, making Kahn and Tyl yell their jokes to one another even though they stood side by side.

Serina and Sy climbed up onto the platform in the center of the room and spread out their arms. Silence descended in reaction to their gesture, and Obi-Wan fidgeted in his robes, wondering when the best time to contact Qui-Gon would be. He would need to inform Qui-Gon as soon as the victim, or at least the sacrifice night, was revealed.

"Brothers, sisters, how are we on this most gracious of nights?"

A murmur informed them everyone was quite well but eager for another sacrifice.

"Serina and I have good news for you. The hands have given us _their_ orders. _They_ have demanded blood, and blood they shall receive." A roar of approval reverberated throughout the room. Obi-Wan fixed his hood, adjusted his gloves, and felt utterly uncomfortable where he stood. He reached out to the force, trying to detect the emotions in the room. It was too large of a crowd, and he was overwhelmed with various emotions, aside from despair he was sure was emanating from Kahn. He noticed, however, a huge wave of excitement at the very edge of the room. He turned to look, listening to carefully. It was a girl who was rushing in with some sort of news. She stood up on her tippy toes and whispered to someone. As the crowd settled down and Sy'Mar continued his speech, the news trickled from the back forward. There were whispers of the return of Gen.

Before the news reached his companions, Obi-Wan melted into the crowd behind them. He needed to blend it the best he could—even without his signet. He clasped his hands together and hid them behind the billowing sleeves of the robe, doing his best to disappear.

Serina leaned over the platform and let someone whisper in her ear. She straightened as if no one had told her anything and then drifted over to Sy'Mar's side. She muttered something in his ear and then stood back. Sy'Mar scanned the group. "Is this true? If Gen'Mar has returned…then who is it Serina and I found? Kahn?"

"No, Gen is right here." He looked around. "Oh, never mind."

"We have a spy in here!" gasped a woman on the other side of the room. The hoarseness of her voice gave away her older age.

"And he knows who we are!"

"Somebody, find him!"

"Let's make him our newest sacrifice!"

The cries became more frantic, despite Serina and Sy'Mar's endeavors to calm to the people down. Finally, Serina shouted. "Silence! We will discover who the culprit is. Dyn'Mar! Close the entrances. Don't let anyone out."

"I want everyone on the left side of me!" roared Sy'Mar, and Obi-Wan's heart sank. They were going to discover his identity too soon. He hadn't found anything out! Not to mention he was widely outnumbered.

The cultists all squished onto the left side of Sy'Mar. People complained and body heat rose. Obi-Wan closed his eyes and tried to relax. He was close to becoming a Jedi Knight. He needed to calm down. Accept whatever happens. Honor was important, he would not go through this like a coward. What a waste.

They had some people acting as guards to separate the left side from the right side. One at a time, Serina and Sy'Mar helped the suspect onto the platform, checked their signets, read out their names, and asked for at least one other person to speak for them. When done, the cleared suspect exited onto the right side. Everyone moaned at how long it was taking. Obi-Wan wondered if he should save everyone the time and go forth. They would catch him, one way or the other. He didn't have a signet, a second speaker, nor a name. He would fail miserably at this mission.

When his turn came around, he took a deep breath and climbed up onto the platform. He held out his hand, willing it to stop shaking. All eyes were on him. "The real Gen or the imposter?" said Serina.

"I'm Gen," Obi-Wan replied mildly.

"Then where is your signet?"

"I lost it out in the wood."

Sy'Mar and Serina looked at each other. "Is there anyone here, who knew you before your disappearance? Someone who could second you?"

Obi-Wan waited. Nobody would second him. The only ones he had met were Kahn and Tyl, and they hadn't known Gen before the disappearance. He looked around in hope, anyway. The silence dragged on for an eternity. To think he had looked forward for this meeting all day.

"Nobody will speak for you," said Serina, sounding a little sympathetic.

One of the doors on the right side burst open and a caped and hooded figure stood in the doorway. "I will speak for him, though I know him not as Gen."

**Author's Note:** I guess I forgot to mention last time that I really appreciate reviews…Do you hate it? Do you like it? Do you think it's stupid? Is the idea intriguing but is the story not written well? Am I too descriptive? Does it seem like I am trying to sound too sophisticated? Should I stop wasting my time on such a dumb story? Please tell me, any form of review will be appreciated.

Also, forgive me if something happens that is not Jedi-like. I'm sorry, but I'm not a Jedi, so I am prone to mistakes. Sorry if it seemed a little slow. I'm just engraving some background into the frame. It will start getting more exciting next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3: Old Acquaintances

**Disclaimer:** Star Wars and Jedi Apprentice do not belong to me; George Lucas, Jude Watson, and Dave Wolverton own them.

**A Believer's Circle**

_Chapter 3_

"_Old Acquaintances_"

Obi-Wan froze. That voice, that dark pulse in the force, there was no mistaking it. The hooded figure's voice had the deep and familiar timbre that belonged to Qui-Gon Jinn's former apprentice, Xanatos. He was unmistakable—the broad shoulders, the finely woven cloak lined in midnight blue satin, the stance that radiated arrogance. That was him, all right. And he was vouching for Obi-Wan.

Serina and Sy'Mar turned to him. "You know him?"

"Yes, Serina, I do know him. His name is Obi-Wan Kenobi and he is a _very_ good friend of mine. I'm quite fond of him, really. I hope he hasn't been causing too much trouble, though, by the looks of it, he has."

Sy'Mar held up his hand in protest. "I'm sorry, but I have to protest. He pretended to be Gen'Mar. He lied in front—"

"Enough." Xanatos strode forward, moving through the crowd gracefully as they parted to make way for him. He hopped onto the platform, close enough to Obi-Wan to make him jerk away. "He is my guest and you will treat him as such."

"But—"

"You heard the Hand, Sy'Mar, stop arguing with him," interrupted Serina smugly. "What would you have us do, then, leader?"

"Continue with the Meet as scheduled." He hardly even looked Obi-Wan's way. He cleared the platform of everyone except himself, Serina, and Sy'Mar, who sullenly stepped behind Xanatos and Serina. Serina continued the meeting, but Obi-Wan couldn't pay attention. It was boring talk—they spoke of sacrifices and the "_them_" without revealing anything much more than Obi-Wan already knew. He watched Xanatos, who, besides the bursting entrance, managed to all but vanish from the room. Sy'Mar was clearly unhappy about Serina's delight in seeing Xanatos, but what Sy'Mar didn't know was that Serina was a little upset when it came down to Xanatos. Perhaps it was annoyance that Obi-Wan sensed, or plain anger, yet she was still glad to see him.

When everyone dispersed, Kahn and Tyl approached him. Obi-Wan wasn't really in the mood to talk to them; he wanted to question Xanatos—why didn't Xanatos expose him? He tried to slip past them to catch up with Xanatos, who was slipping away with Serina. "Wait up—what did the Hand say your name was, again?"

"Obi-Wan," he replied, distractedly. "I need to talk with Xanatos."

"The Hand is talking to Serina," Tyl'Mar pointed out.

"I know, but I still need to." He passed by them without saying anything more and pushed his way through the dispersing crowd. By the time Obi-Wan crossed the room, he was one of only eight people still there and he said, "Xanatos."

Serina and Xanatos turned to look at him, and Serina commented, "You never told me you knew an Obi-Wan. Is that a Vlenarian name I don't know about?"

"No, he's human."

"No wonder he has such a coarse voice. I had thought, perhaps, he was a little sick." Obi-Wan stopped short of them, only to find that Kahn and Tyl flanked him. "Oh, Xanatos, I'd like you to meet my friend Kahn and his friend Tool'Mar," continued Serina.

"Tyl," murmured Tyl.

Xanatos gave abrupt nods. "Tool'Mar, Kahn'Mar."

"Tyl."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, leader—or do you prefer being called 'Hand?"

"Leader is fine."

"You know, I was just telling your friend here, Obi-Wan, how we've never gotten the chance to meet you. And you hardly ever attend the Meet—if I may be so bold to say, of course, leader," added Kahn quickly. He playfully punched Obi-Wan on the arm. "Here we were just talking about the leader and you knew him all the same! I hope we said nothing too mean."

"No, you didn't," said Obi-Wan, though he would never tell Xanatos even if they had. His eyes had not left Xanatos's shadowy face. "Xanatos."

"Now's not the place." Obi-Wan could hear the smile in his voice. "Serina, shall we?"

"Oh, of course. Right this way."

Just as Xanatos and Serina turned to leave, Obi-Wan held up his hand. "Xanatos, wait!"

Xanatos faced him once more, his annoyance prickling the force. "I'm only going to repeat myself this one last time, Obi-Wan. Now is not the time, nor this the place, to talk. I'm sure by now Qui-Gon has taught you that patience is a virtue, yes?"

Obi-Wan held back a sigh. He was almost nineteen, and here was Xanatos, talking to him as if he was still five. _Well, perhaps he talks to you that way because you are acting that age,_ replied his conscience. _Patience _is_ a virtue. He will never tell you of his plans_. _But he is giving you plenty of time to figure them out yourself_.

"It was such a divine pleasure to meet you, Leader," exclaimed Tyl'Mar as Serina and Xanatos exited the room. "And you, Serina. It's always a pleasure seeing you," and once she was out of earshot, he added on a quieter note, "even though you never pronounce my name right."

Kahn latched onto Obi-Wan's arm and tugged him down an opposing hall from the one Xanatos had taken. "I can't believe you knew the Hand and never said anything! I mean, what's he like?"

Tyl caught up after a few quick strides and pushed his way into the gap between Obi-Wan and Kahn'Mar. "Who cares what he's like? Do you think he's the kind of guy Serina would like—not that I'm jealous or anything. No one as important as Serina could possibly ever…you know…even think, even for a second, about a Vlenarian like me."

Obi-Wan grinned as the pressures that had just held him hostage slowly loosened their grip and he fell into the peaceful groove he'd been in earlier. "He can be a bit of a charmer."

"Oh, damn! I'd really thought that…well, he's human, like you, isn't he? So that means that Serina couldn't like him?"

Kahn, oblivious to his brother's anxiety, said, "Well, did you see the way she hung onto him? It looks like their some kind of item. You know, didn't you hear what Marina and Larina were telling us at breakfast? That Serina's boyfriend was cheating on her."

"I wasn't aware she _had_ a boyfriend," said Tyl through gritted teeth.

"It would only make sense that they, being the researchers, would know more about the Hand. Of course, they can't disclose the information to us—"

Obi-Wan interrupted before Kahn could anger Tyl much more. "Are we allowed to go outside?"

Tyl rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. "We can, if we really wanted to, but it's generally not permitted."

"Why not?"

Kahn gave him a sidelong look. "You're really not one of us, are you?"

Obi-Wan rubbed his chin. "I'm an initiate. I want to be here. I hope I become one of you."

"Then you can stick with us until they find you a partner, though I'm sure you'd like to spend a bunch of your time with Xanatos. Only time will tell."

"So what now?"

"Now? We go to the shrine, pray, and go to sleep. _You_ can take a shower. Now that you are the Hand's most gracious guest, you can pretty much do anything you'd like, within reason, of course. No spying on the Rinas now," he warned, chuckling.

"Yeah, we got caught a few times," said Tyl.

"I told you not to go near Serina's rooms."

"I wasn't spying on Serina!"

"Sure."

"Somehow, I find myself believing Kahn," put in Obi-Wan, laughing.

"He's a liar. I would never disrespect Serina like that. She's too good for that," growled Tyl'Mar. "Let's not talk about this anymore."

"So, do you want to take a walk before we pray to the Mother and the Father?" asked Kahn, lightening his tone.

"No, it's all right. Let's head over to the Shrine."

/ — / — / — / — /

Praying to the Mother and the Father was a difficult process, not to mention long. To prostrate oneself on the floor for such long periods of time really hurt. While Sy'Mar conducted the rituals, Obi-Wan cleared his mind, meditating. When it ended, Kahn and Tyl dragged him back to the dorms. "Did you see that? Serina is missing! From the prayers."

"She's with _him_," murmured Tyl, glumly. "I'm going to bed." He stormed off, leaving Kahn chuckling in his wake.

"Poor Tyl'Mar. Love makes him crazy."

"Love makes him blind," commented Obi-Wan.

"Or stupid." They walked down the hall some ways before Kahn'Mar asked, "What will you do right now?"

Obi-Wan rolled his shoulders. He wanted to talk to Xanatos or spy on him, though spying would always be the better choice with someone who would always withhold his plans from his enemies. "I think I'm going to take a shower and then walk around."

"Do you mind if I join you? On the walk, I mean."

Obi-Wan smiled. "You may, if that is what you want." _Though I can't guarantee I will stay out of trouble_.

They rounded the corner and took the path to the showers. "Where are you going to go?"

"Kahn'Mar, do you trust me?"

"Sure."

"Okay." Obi-Wan looked behind them, and when he saw no one, he took a deep breath. "Okay, I am going to find out who the next victim is."

Kahn stopped. "What?"

"I am going to find out who the next victim is," he repeated calmly, half turning to Kahn. His heart pounded in his chest. He might be making a grave mistake, but he felt that Kahn'Mar might be up to this little task.

"But…you can't—I meant, you just can't—if they find out—if, if, well, what will you do with that information?" he asked, finally.

"I'm going to save that person."

"Are you really the Hand's friend?"

Obi-Wan started for the showers once more. "You don't have to come. I'm going to take a shower now. I smell pretty bad."

Kahn'Mar paced outside of the showers for the duration of Obi-Wan's bathing. He chewed one his nails and rubbed his neck. "You do realize what can happen if anyone finds out, don't you?" he asked as Obi-Wan strolled out from behind the curtains, fully dressed in the cult's garb.

"Oh, yes. But I don't believe in senseless murder," he told him quietly. "The family has been doing well for generations, even before these calls to blood. Wouldn't you like to restore the family name? Its virtues? This was a haven for people who didn't quite fit in with the Vlenarian society's standards. By murdering these innocent people, you are making more enemies."

Kahn'Mar folded his arms across his chest and blocked Obi-Wan's exit. "If they want it, then they should have it. If it means we make enemies, then so be it. They are never wrong."

"Trust me. Xanatos—or the hand, whatever you want to call him—has been known to be wrong more often than not. He's not to be trusted."

Obi-Wan could tell that the Mar in front of him gawked at him by the awkward silence that followed. "How can you say such a thing? He rescued you from murder! He's your friend."

"He calls everyone his friend. If you want, you may tell someone if you don't trust me. Tell the Hand, for that matter. I'm sure he already knows why I am here. It's part of his plan."

His words were powerful to the Vlenarian. He moved aside and allowed Obi-Wan passage. "I'll come."

"Okay." Obi-Wan smiled to himself as they backtracked. "I'm glad you're on my side. I think there are several places we need to visit tonight, and I don't know where they are."

Kahn'Mar hesitated before directing him to Serina's room, but patience was on Obi-Wan's side and soon Kahn gave in. "You can only reach it through the lifts—but we're not allowed to use them. You need a key to use the lifts. Trust me."

"You said that Tyl'Mar spied on Serina. How did he do that if he doesn't have a key?"

"Hmm, I never really thought about it before. We can ask Tyl'Mar, but…he'll turn you in before disclosing that sort of information to you—or to me, for that matter."

"It's fine. I might know a way. How many people have access to the bottom floor?"

"Sy'Mar, Serina, and the Hands, for sure. Perhaps Larina. There's the research facility down there where the Hand supposedly works. She worked with him for a while. She, Marina, and Jer'Mar." His breathing became more ragged as he tried to keep up with Obi-Wan's pace. "They probably have keys."

"Do you know if the three sleep here or the lower level?"

"Here, for sure. They dine down here."

"Do you know where any of them stay?"

Kahn paused. "We're not going to steal anything, are we?"

"We'll return it."

"No. No, we absolutely cannot take anything from them. That is a serious offense!"

"In the real world, so is murder," Obi-Wan fired back, then immediately cooled his tone. "I need to find a way down there. Anything will do."

"This way."

They wound through the endless halls and found themselves in the sleeping quarters. A few beds were empty and a gentle light lined the pathway in between the beds to guide them. Obi-Wan looked around. Marina, Larina, and Jer'Mar were the people he had seen upon his arrival, but how would he know if Jer'Mar was here? It wasn't like he could remember the face. He quietly thanked Kahn for coming with him. This would have been a hard task to complete without Kahn's experience in the cult.

Kahn'Mar stepped in between two beds and pointed to a man and mouthed, "That's him."

Obi-Wan knelt beside Jer'Mar's bed and deftly pulled out a box from underneath it. Jer'Mar turned on his side, facing Obi-Wan but did not wake up. Kahn stepped back into the aisle and kept his eyes on the door. Obi-Wan opened the box and peered inside. Vlenarians were surprisingly trusting. They put their valuables in unlocked boxes.

In the cool metallic box, Obi-Wan found, wrapped in a velvety cloth, Jer'Mar's gold ring, with the Vlenarian letters that roughly translated to "JE" engraved into the flat surface. Placing it aside, he checked the other contents of the box. A hologram, a small container of candy, an electro-jabber, and, lying buried underneath all of it, a card marked "Research."

He snatched it and returned the contents to the box. While doing so, Tyl'Mar burst into the room. Kahn'Mar hurried for him in a futile attempt at saving Obi-Wan from an interrogation. Obi-Wan fumbled to return everything but successfully shut it and hid it away from the approaching Tyl'Mar. "Where have you two been?! I've been looking for you everywhere! When you didn't turn up after the Meet—"

"Shh! People are sleeping," Kahn told his brother through gritted teeth.

Tyl stared at Obi-Wan, standing beside the sleeping Jer'Mar. "What are you doing, Obi-Wan?"

"It's nothing, Tyl," Kahn assured him, frantically. "C'mon, let's go out into the hall so we don't wake anyone up, okay?"

"No. What were you just doing, Obi-Wan? Were you going through Jer'Mar's private—"

"No, of course not!" Kahn snapped. "Don't be stupid."

"I think you were. By the Mother and the Father! What—"

Obi-Wan lifted his hand and waved it in the air, gathering the force around him. Vlenarians were human-like in that they were not simple-minded, but he hoped it would work on Tyl'Mar. He needed to be subdued. "I wasn't going through Jer'Mar's things. You are tired and now you will go to bed."

Silence.

"No."

Obi-Wan sighed. It was a good try. "I'll tell you if you get into the hall."

They strode out into the hall and Tyl turned to them, his hands on his hips. "What is going on, Kahn? What trouble are you two getting into?"

While Obi-Wan was thinking of excuse after excuse, Kahn blurted out, "Obi-Wan is secretly in love with Serina. He wanted to go down to the lower levels and tell her how he feels about her, but he needed a key, so I told him that Jer'Mar has one of the keys to the lift, and so we went here to get the key from him, but he was asleep, you know, so we couldn't wake him up, so we thought it wouldn't hurt anyone if we borrowed it for a moment, used the lift, and when we were done we would totally return it, we don't mean any harm. We're not doing anything that might hurt the family." He stopped to catch his breath.

Tyl'Mar dropped his hands from his hips. "Oh, why couldn't you have just said that? You don't need a key for the lifts, anyway."

Obi-Wan and Kahn just stared. "What?"

"There's a simple override code that I learned while I was working as an apprentice in the laboratory. You know, they didn't have a key for me made yet, since I wasn't sure if I wanted to work down there, so they gave me a code they used to override it. It changes from week to week, but it's not hard to find out. If you don't mind me coming along, I'll get that code for you."

Obi-Wan and Kahn'Mar exchanged looks. Not only was Tyl taking Kahn's fanciful story better than one would expect, he wanted to go with them! This was not good in the least.

Obi-Wan held up the key. "There's no need for a code. I've got the key." Perhaps Tyl would back off.

"Well, I'll come along anyway. I know my way around the lower level. It's very complicated," he added when neither of the two responded immediately.

"Uh, sure, Tyl. You're welcome to join us," Obi-Wan said, politely, praying that Tyl didn't sabotage his mission.

"Good, well, come, mars. Let's go."

Obi-Wan and Kahn fell in line with Tyl's long strides. Obi-Wan searched the force for the emotions around him. Kahn was afraid, but Tyl'Mar was excited. The air around him pulsed with it. He couldn't help but wonder why Tyl'Mar felt such excitement. What was he planning. He studied him out of habit from the corner of his eye, but the hood revealed nothing. His gait only revealed his eagerness, but that was it.

They reached the lift only a few silent minutes later. The dim blue lights blinked when they stepped on the sensors and a voice asked for the key. Obi-Wan stepped forward and slid the card in the designated place. The lights brightened and the door shut behind them. "Welcome to the Research Facility, Jer'Mar," the voice greeted monotonously. The doors hissed open and the voice said, "Watch your step."

They exited into a dark corridor. "Where are the lights?" whispered Kahn'Mar nervously.

"They don't expect anyone down here after hours, so why do they need to waste energy?" replied Tyl. "Come on, Serina's quarters are down this way." He turned left and continued down the hall, Kahn and Obi-Wan following closely behind.

They passed several doors on their way to Serina's room, but all were lock. Obi-Wan wondered what sort of research they would do. Considering that the cult consisted mainly of rejects or people turned out because of differences in opinion, he supposed the family gave a haven to those scientists who wished to conduct experiments that were otherwise considered immoral or illegal throughout the rest of Vlenaria. With that thought, he decided that he would pay a visit to one of these labs when he did not have Kahn'Mar or Tyl'Mar beside him. Those types of things required stealth, which would only be acquired by one's own self.

The hall widened to a dead end, where there were four doors. Two for the Hands, one for Serina, and one for Sy'Mar, Obi-Wan supposed. Kahn nudged Tyl. "That wasn't too complicated. "All you had to say was, 'to the left.'" He chortled to himself.

"It's not funny. You might walk into the wrong door."

Obi-Wan could tell Kahn'Mar rolled his eyes. "Well, which one is Serina's?"

"None," replied Tyl.

"None? Then why are we here?"

"Well, that door leads to the sleeping quarters," he explained, pointing to the door on the right. "Come on."

They advanced deeper into the lower levels, where there were occasionally dim lights to the light up the hallway enough so no one would trip over one another. Obi-Wan could feel ripples and ripples in the force, making Xanatos's presence. Xanatos would know. If Xanatos's presence was so strong, then so was Obi-Wan's. Such an experienced dark Jedi would not miss such a thing. He stopped. "We should turn back right now."

"What? After we've come this far? Don't be stupid. Let's go," urged Tyl'Mar.

"Yeah, come on, Obi-Wan. Not much farther."

Xanatos already knows I'm here. He knows what I plan to do, anyway. "All right." They moved forward a little more until they heard voices. Loud voices.

"It doesn't matter now," came Serina's soft voice.

"Why not?" Sy'Mar.

"Because, there's someone else."

"How do you know?"

"What do you mean, how do I know?" Insulted, Serina snorted. Obi-Wan and the two brothers melted into one of the niches in the hall as the door opened. "There's another Rina. He hasn't come to my bed since he's been back."

"Serina, he can probably hear you."

"He's probably with that awful Rina!" she exclaimed huffily.

The two hooded figures passed by their hiding place without so much as glancing at them. "Well, I always figured Vlenarians and humans shouldn't be together. It's just not right."

She stopped and pivoted to face him. "What do you mean? There's nothing at all wrong with humans and Vlenarians together. I'd rather be with a human than be with a sloppy Vlenarian."

"Are you mad at him or are content with him? By the Mother and the Father, Serina. I'm trying to tell you how much I love you and you can't even make up your mind."

"There's no time for love," she said briskly. "We've got to think about the next sacrifice."

"I wasn't the one going off topic," he replied hotly.

"I am going to his room now. I'll figure out who is the next sacrifice, okay?"

"You should have figured that out a long time ago. He normally tells us before we announce it. I don't know what's happened to the family. It changes very day." He stalked off while Serina entered one of the rooms. Obi-Wan figured it was Xanatos's room. All of the dark energy was concentrated there.

"I don't think this is a good time to announce your love," whispered Tyl, his heart sinking and his eagerness gone.

"Give me a few minutes alone with her, and it will be," Obi-Wan assured him, absently. "Do you think you could stand watch out here for me?"

"You're going _in_ after her?" asked Tyl, his jaw dropping.

"The Hand's in there! You're mad."

"Are you just going to waltz right in there and make a speech or something?"

Obi-Wan shook his head. "I don't know. I'll know when I get in there."

"How are you going in there? The door is loud, you know."

"I'm good at being invincible. Trust me." And he entered the room as silently as feather hitting the ground.

The anterior room was dark, but a thin sliver of yellow light pooled on the metallic flooring from the room at the end of the hall. Obi-Wan crept in a little farther, gathering the force around him. He was being rash, he knew, but something compelled him to come here. He wasn't sure what it was, but it drew him towards it.

Silence descended upon the hall as he made his way to the light. When he was close enough, he peeped through the open door, only to find Xanatos in the center of the room, his arms folded across his chest, and Serina lying face down in the bed. Xanatos was smiling. "I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan Kenobi."

/ — / — / — / — /

**Author's Note:** Bad girl, bad, smacks hand. I know, I know, it's been a really long time. Lots of midterms and high stress and homework, you know. But in two or three weeks, I'll be free for the summer! Well, for two weeks and then summer school starts. :( Anyway, the sacrifice comes next and then the Xanatos/Obi-Wan goodness begins! And it's going to be good (for those of you who like the pairing, anyway). Thanks to all those who reviewed. I thrive on reviews, I really do. They make my day. I hoped you enjoyed this update. I really wasn't going to have it end here, but the next part ties in with the next chapter, so it must end here.


	4. Chapter 4: The Sacrifice

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Star Wars_ or _Jedi Apprentice_.

**A Believer's Circle**

Chapter 4

"_The Sacrifice"_

Obi-Wan stared at the body strewn across the bed. Serina's hood, like Xanatos's, had been pulled back and revealed the translucent skin of her face. She looked peaceful, with the way the soft light pooled around her face and chased away any shadows. Her bluish lips were slightly parted and curled into a gentle smile. He crossed the room, doubting she was dead. It was clear by the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest that she yet lived, but he had to make sure she was fine. Out of habit. He checked her pulse, sliding his calloused fingers across her smooth, unblemished neck. He paused, thinking how awkward his skin looked in comparison to hers. He wondered if Xanatos ever paused to think about it when he touched her.

Shaking the thought from his head, he focused on the beating of her pulse. He touched her forehead, thinking of the average temperature Vlenarians typically were, which was colder than humans. He brushed his fingers across her cheeks.

"She's alive and quite healthy," said Xanatos after some time.

Obi-Wan stood up and turned to face Xanatos. As always, he posted a pleasant smile on his face, his teeth pearly white and perfectly straight. Xanatos watched him with his eyes burning like fire, curious, amused, all-knowing. "What did you do to her?"

Xanatos rolled his shoulder, hardly sparing Serina so much as a glance. "She arrived at the most inopportune moment, I'm afraid. But she'll wake up tomorrow, when the sun goes down in the real world and the lights come on down here, and think that she's spent the night with me, and won't think twice about that little tiny pin prick that's on her arm."

Obi-Wan checked her arm, seeing the tiniest dot just below her shoulder. "What did you give her?"

"Just an ether. Like I said, she'll be fine."

Obi-Wan just stared. Xanatos did not look away from Obi-Wan's eyes. Finally, Obi-Wan said something. "Why? Why didn't you expose me to your cult?"

"Oh, it's not my cult, though it certainly flatters me to no end that you think so." He grinned.

That brought up several questions, but Obi-Wan still hadn't gotten an answer to his first question. "Why didn't you tell them who I was? You obviously know why I'm here."

"Typical Obi-Wan Kenobi. You certainly haven't changed. Always in a hurry, always asking questions, always to the point. I saved your life. Why? Because I wanted to. Can't you just be thankful?"

_Anyone else, and I _would_ be thankful_, he thought fiercely. "Common sense compels me to be suspicious when an act of goodness comes from a former enemy," he replied, dryly.

This only pleased Xanatos more. He moved about the room, turning his back to Obi-Wan. "The Jedi are so narrow-minded, you know. Do you know what the clan would have done to you if I hadn't stepped in? They're blood thirsty outcasts who'd do anything to quench that thirst and protect their way of life. Though you are, no doubt, powerful, you would have been helpless."

"I'm not afraid to die," Obi-Wan replied simply, but contemplated his reaction when he had stepped up to the platform in front of the entire congregation of cultists.

Xanatos shrugged before turning and scrutinizing Obi-Wan. "Then what _are_ you afraid of?"

"Jedi don't know fear," he replied stiffly, wondering why Xanatos danced around every question posed. It frustrated him to no end. And so did the smug look on Xanatos's face. Damn him, he knew the truth. Damn him a second time for smiling like that, so ironically. Damn him a third time if he chooses to criticize him for it.

As if reading Obi-Wan's mind, Xanatos meandered across the room so that he stood directly in front of him, only inches away. "Everyone has to feel some type of fear, don't you think?" he said softly.

Obi-Wan willed his face to steel. "That's why you failed, Xanatos. Fear is your biggest weakness. Fear makes you fall." And the smile only grew wider. Obi-Wan wanted to dig his nails into that face and wipe away that wicked smile from his face. That ironical smile, that knowing smile. Those blue eyes could penetrate the thickest shield, and Xanatos knew it. How Obi-Wan hated him in that moment.

"What am I afraid of? Can you tell me? I didn't realize I possessed such fear."

Afraid to die, afraid to lose power, afraid of being close to somebody—wait, where did _that_ come from?

"Do I frustrate you, Obi-Wan? I can relieve that frustration, if you want…" He reached into the folds of his cloak and patted his lightsaber. A stray black strand fell across his face and covered the broken circle on his cheek, but he didn't move his hand to brush it back.

Panic seized Obi-Wan. His head reeled with possible scenarios—what would Xanatos do if he was close to losing? Would he call his cultists to the rescue and escape? Would he even come close to losing? Xanatos wouldn't be so reckless unless he was assured there was minimal risk. He took a careful step back and inhaled, calming himself and gathering the force around himself.

Sensing an influx of the force around Obi-Wan, Xanatos took out his lightsaber without switching it on and said, "Don't worry. We're not fighting 'til the death, unless you'd like to cheat. I know how bored you are. Well, I'll give you some action, and you can be my sparring partner while you're here. Sound good to you?"

_No_, answered his conscience. "Fair enough," he replied, ignoring his instincts. He glanced around the bedchamber. "Here?"

"Good point," remarked Xanatos with a frown. He attached his lightsaber to his belt and headed out into the adjoining room. "There's a place where there's ample space for a proper spar."

Even though Xanatos's back was turned to him as he followed, he nodded anyway_. I shouldn't be doing this at all. Sparring with Xanatos as if I was practicing with Garen back at the temple! And not to mention I had let anger and hatred and impatience get the best of me!_ Xanatos was dangerous in more ways that he had originally figured, he now realized.

Xanatos walked in quick, precise strides, firm but still graceful, as if he was just gliding down the corridors. Obi-Wan studied Xanatos's gait and his posture, so confident and perfect. There was no doubt that this former Jedi was the top of his game when it came down to the physical aspects of the profession. Obi-Wan had always envisioned Xanatos to be big and burly, to walk like a gruffly, tipping the shoulders in exaggerated motions each stride. He had been amazed the first time he'd come across Xanatos, to see the suave movement and the agility that radiated from him. He had to hand it to him; if it weren't for his own fears and greed, he would have made one of the best Jedi in the galaxy. But fear and greed were the two attributes that made a Jedi a bad one.

Xanatos didn't offer any banter along the way, but he didn't hurry, either. It was a calm walk, at a medium pace, and comfortably silent. Obi-Wan figured that Xanatos knew much more talking and they would be ripping at one another's throats before they reached their destination.

Obi-Wan liked the tranquility that silence brought, but the silence inside the cultists' hideaway buzzed in his ears. It was eerie the way that neither he nor Xanatos made noise as they made their way to the sparring room, that not even the lights lining the floor hummed or the air whooshed. Although Xanatos's silence was accepted, Obi-Wan wished he would say something to fill the empty void that sat in every niche throughout the old fortress.

Xanatos and Obi-Wan stopped at the end of one of the halls in front of a massive steel door. Xanatos deftly punched in the code, his fingers moving of their own accord as he sheepishly shot a glance at Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan wondered briefly what it was for.

"Temple rules for now? Have the lightsaber on the lowest level, first one to nick—"

"Yeah, I know," he murmured.

Xanatos nodded, satisfied, and the door hissed open, giving way for a cavernous chamber.

Obi-Wan stepped inside and immediately soaked in his surroundings. An old forgotten storage room, no doubt, by the looks of the spacious room with boxes covered in cobwebs and layers of dust. There weren't many boxes, and those that were still there had been pushed off to the sides, creating an area-type atmosphere.

Obi-Wan unfastened his cultist robe and tossed it off onto a box marked "Hazardous," and just then, the overhead iridescent lights brightened above him, chasing the shadows into the corners. He glanced behind him, searching Xanatos out, and the former Jedi approached the center, launching himself into the air and sailing across a row of boxes and landing silently in the makeshift arena. He faced Obi-Wan and winked. "Ready?"

Obi-Wan shuddered. _I shouldn't be doing this_. _He's a master of deception and he's woven a web so thick…I think I might already be caught_, he thought to himself, watching the endless patience of Xanatos's pale face. But he squeezed through a valley of boxes with his lightsaber in his hand and positioned himself for a duel. Xanatos's lips curled in that knowing way that Obi-Wan knew only so well; and it began.

Xanatos circled steadily, his red lightsaber tilted and posed for an attack. Obi-Wan gathered the force around him, accepting it as it pulsed through him and calmed the fire that began to burn inside. It took only a second for Xanatos attack first. His lightsaber sliced through the air fast, only to be quickly parried by Obi-Wan. Just a quick flick and Xanatos withdrew, readying himself for the next assault. Obi-Wan knew all to well that Xanatos was anything but defensive, even though he was almost sure that if Xanatos hadn't been so impatient, he could hold off even the toughest of enemies. Obi-Wan waited for the next blow, watching Xanatos's movement cautiously.

Again and again, Xanatos attacked, was rebuffed, and withdrew, each time the strength of his blows increasing. Each strike left ringing down Obi-Wan's arms whenever he blocked an offensive move. Xanatos's strength was bone-shattering, and Obi-Wan realized that he hadn't done much practicing in the past few days—nothing but eating and talking and sleeping. He frowned, thinking up a better strategy.

"Something wrong?" mocked Xanatos, swirling away from Obi-Wan's attack. "You look a little tired, there. Want a rest?"

Obi-Wan gritted his teeth and parried Xanatos's nipping blow to his ankles with a jump and a spin, a move he'd been working on for a while. He landed soundly on his opposite foot without stumbling (an honest improvement) and smiled to himself, happy about the circumstances surrounding his enlightenment. He replied to Xanatos's remark by striking out to his neck, but, as always, Xanatos was a step ahead of him—well, two. By the time Obi-Wan swung, Xanatos had already sidestepped out of the way and was coming for his own neck. Obi-Wan twisted away, feeling a bead of sweat drip down the side of his face. The lightsaber felt warm underneath his sweaty palms, but he gripped it tighter and locked his jaw in determination. Xanatos only responded by widening his grin and charging.

Obi-Wan shifted his weight from his right side to his left and prepared to launch himself in the air over Xanatos and attack from behind, but the light suddenly gave out and Xanatos's lightsaber was off. Obi-Wan knew better than to call it quits. Xanatos was not above cheating, that was for sure.

He reached out to the force and let it guide him to Xanatos, who'd retreated across the arena in wait. Obi-Wan doubted the former Jedi was hiding from him, and he vaguely wondered what he was doing. In a moment, Xanatos's lightsaber was on and was swinging at Obi-Wan at a faster speed than Obi-Wan had expected from Xanatos. He hardly had enough time to block one blow before another one came at him. At the last strike, he could feel the vibration ring through his arm to the rest of his body so violently he thought his heart would stop. He staggered for a moment, expecting Xanatos's lightsaber to come down on his neck and sting him, but no heat seared his skin.

And then it happened. His big feet had to ruin it. It twisted before he'd a chance to establish some sort of balance and he froze, wondering what Xanatos might do. He didn't dare reach down and touch his ankle, to check it for serious injuries or to rub it to ease the screeching pain that ravaged it. He looked up at the shadowy image of Xanatos, but the former Jedi only took a few steps back and tilted his head with a scowl on his face.

Obi-Wan looked at his empty hands and held them up. "Well? Aren't you going to finish it? I'm unarmed." He must have dropped his lightsaber when he had twisted his ankle.

Xanatos paused and then held up his fingers, summoning Obi-Wan's lightsaber with the force and tossing it to Obi-Wan. "Let's go. We're not done yet."

Something inside him demanded he ignore the pain and continue, but this wasn't a real, life or death duel. This was a spar. It was pointless to risk further injuring himself so whimsically. "I sprained my ankle," he admitted with a wince.

Using the force, Xanatos switched on the light. He stuck his lightsaber in his belt and approached Obi-Wan. "That won't look good to Kahn'Mar and Tool'Mar, now will it? They'll think I did this to silence you or something." He pressed his hands against Obi-Wan's chest and pushed him a little. "Sit there," he commanded and pointed to the box behind them a little. Obi-Wan backed up a little, jerking away from Xanatos's warm touch, and sat down.

"I'd go get one of the medics, but I don't want Serina wondering what I was doing tonight." Xanatos kneeled in front of him and tugged off Obi-Wan's left boot. He took Obi-Wan's ankle in one hand and brushed the fingers of his other hand against it.

Obi-Wan closed his eyes and clenched his jaw when Xanatos started turning it this way and that. He ventured a conversation out of embarrassment for the sprained ankle and asked, "You and Serina are dating? It doesn't seem like an equally devoted relationship," he hissed.

Xanatos jerked it suddenly, and Obi-Wan couldn't suppress a yelp fast enough. That earned a chuckle. "She's not the only woman in my life," was all he said.

"How can you live like that? Never satisfied with what you have?" Obi-Wan studied the man in front of him through half-closed eyes. Xanatos had been sweating after all, the roots of his hair were a little damp and his cheeks—there were little splotches of pinkness on each one. How could he have missed that? Satisfied, he relaxed a little.

Xanatos lightened his grip and massaged it. Obi-Wan leaned back and closed his eyes completely, wondering what it was that Xanatos was doing that chased away the pain. "There's nothing wrong with striving for perfection, right?"

"I never looked at it that way," Obi-Wan said absently.

Still examining the ankle, Xanatos said, "It's a good thing I've had several sprains in my lifetime, so I don't think a medic would be required." He looked up into Obi-Wan's eyes and asked, "Do you want something to drink?"

"I never thought you the doting type," replied Obi-Wan, half smiling.

Xanatos rolled his shoulders. "I do what I can. I need something to wrap around your ankle. We'll pass by a kitchen on the way. Stand up, you can lean on me."

"I can walk," protested Obi-Wan testily.

"You'll injure it even more."

"You don't care."

Xanatos latched onto Obi-Wan's arm and hauled him to his feet. "I do. If you're injured, I'll be without a sparring partner again; it'll be…boring again here."

"Boring here? With all these people at your beck and call? What else does somebody like you need?" Obi-Wan stood idly, silently permitting Xanatos to wrap his arm around his waist and coiling Obi-Wan's arm around his neck.

"They aren't always what they seem. But I'm not worried anymore," he said lightly as they started for the hallway. "I'll be taking care of them. You are right, though. There are people very faithful to me, and I'm going to rely on them to purge the clan of any nonbelievers."

Obi-Wan shuddered, thinking of Kahn'Mar.

"I'll start with that troublesome Sy'Mar," Xanatos mused darkly.

Obi-Wan remained silent, wondering if Xanatos acknowledged his presence or not. He was probably doing it on purpose. He was too cocky to keep anything secret for long.

"And branch out to those who are better at staying hidden. Huh, I've said too much, haven't I?" With a half-hearted sigh, he quickened their pace. "If I get you to the lift, do you think you could hobble back to your sleeping quarter?"

Obi-Wan detected the sneer in his voice and rolled his eyes. "Yes."

Leaving Obi-Wan at the lift, he said, "See you later for another midnight visit, lover." He winked and turned away. Obi-Wan pressed into the wall of the lift as it jerked upward. What a night. But he'd found what he wanted to find. That was something important, which meant he needed to talk to Qui-Gon.

Ignoring his protesting ankle, he hurried down the hall toward the showers, the one place he figured no one would be, and took out his commlink.

Sinking to the floor, his back pressed flat against the cool tile, and head back, he activated the commlink. "Master?"

"Obi-Wan! Is everything going all right?" came an immediate response.

Qui-Gon's collected voice washed over Obi-Wan like a cool shower. He felt cleaner now that he'd contacted his master. It was like he was forgetting who he was, but now Qui-Gon's voice came to ground him and remind him that he was a Jedi. "Nothing much to report, but I do know who the next sacrifice is—or who the next sacrifices are, anyway. I think."

"Who?"

"Those who are loosing faith in Xanatos, including of the leaders named Sy'Mar. Xanatos told me, and then said he hadn't meant to say it."

"He did mean it," grumbled Qui-Gon. "He's a mastermind. He would never let anything 'slip'."

"I don't think he'll murder anyone outside the clan right now. Not for the next few days, anyway."

"Is that all there is to report?" asked his master.

Obi-Wan shrugged. "Pretty much. I haven't learned much about their way of life, except they sleep during the day and get up when the sun goes down." He related as many facts about them that he learned in the past day or so, and he retraced his steps since he'd arrived. He left out a few minor details, but told the general story. He breezed over the spar, though, not expanding when Qui-Gon asked. When that was over, they ended the connection and Obi-Wan went straight to bed.

/ — / — / — / — /

"Obi-Wan!"

"We were so worried about you. What happened?"

Obi-Wan poked at his food with his fork, picking his brain for a good explanation. Kahn and Tyl were gossips, and if he let the wrong information slip, he'd cause Xanatos problems. He frowned. He'd cause Xanatos problems?! Since when did he care? "They didn't discuss anything. They were…a little busy," he said, blushing just at the thought, "so I left. But I got lost."

Tyl'Mar's jaw dropped. "You don't mean it!"

"We've been through this already, Tyl. You heard Serina last night. She's into him. She likes humans, apparently," Kahn said, dismissively.

"She…she…let that human touch her?!"

"Shh, Tyl'Mar. You're going to attract attention!"

Obi-Wan shrank into his chair, looking around at the robes around him. How many of them would be killed? How many would be falsely accused and how many would willingly give their life just because the Hand—_Xanatos_—demanded it? Such senseless murder. He swallowed the lump in his throat and prodded his breakfast once more, willing it to disappear.

"Somebody has to talk to her. She's been misled."

"You're talking about the Hand!" Kahn whispered fiercely. "That's sacrilegious!"

"I love the Hand," Tyl stated firmly, his hand slicing through the air passionately, "but he must realize that Serina is meant for a Mar, not some human."

"He doesn't mean anything by it," Kahn told Obi-Wan off to the side. "He goes through these rants all the time."

"I know. I can tell." Obi-Wan forced a smile, which Kahn returned wholeheartedly.

"The _nerve_ of those humans!"

"Say, Obi-Wan, where is your robe?"

"My—?" He looked down at his tunic. "Right. My robe. I must have left it in the sleeping quarters," he lied smoothly. "Everyone knows me by now anyway."

"Yeah, but we all know each other here, and it's rules. You have to wear robes and hoods now."

"Damnable humans! Stealing the only good rinas we have here in Vlenaria still. Nobody adds up to her silky skin, transparent and shiny, soft. And that hair. I just get the—Oh, Serina, how good it is to see you."

Obi-Wan turned around to look at the hooded figure behind him.

"And you, too, Tool'Mar," she responded politely. "Kahn, can I speak to you in private for a second? I have some need of your skills."

Tyl'Mar stared at the two of them traveled to the other side of the room, out of earshot. "What the—?" He tapped his foot on the floor, a cloud of anger floating around him. "Aren't they done yet?" he growled.

"They only stepped away a few seconds ago." Serina moved her hands in circles in the air as she spoke to Kahn'Mar. Kahn nodded now and then, acknowledging his comprehension, and finally gave a very quick nod. Serina leaned over and planted a kiss flat on his cheek before giving him a quick embrace and another peck. Then she turned and left the room.

Tyl'Mar stood up. "What was that all about?"

"Shh, people can hear you, Tyl," murmured Kahn as he sat back down at the table.

Tyl stamped his foot. "I don't care. What do you think you were doing?!"

"Something terrible is happening in the clan," he said, more to Obi-Wan than the raging Tyl. "Serina was very upset. She just found out who the next sacrifice is. They're going to hunt down those who are nonbelievers, and Serina found out that someone close to her was one of them."

"And she had to kiss you for that?"

Kahn shrugged. "She was upset. I was trying to comfort her."

"That's wonderful," Tyl snapped. "Just betray me like that. Go ahead. Why don't you sleep with my future wife?"

Obi-Wan could tell Kahn'Mar was smiling, but something in his gut told him that was far from a laughing matter. "When are they going to start the hunt? When are they going to announce it to everyone?"

Kahn ignored him. "Tyl," he said gently, "Serina's not interested in you. I know you like her and respect her, but…"

"WHAT?!"

"Shush, Tyl."

"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HER FEELINGS FOR ME!" And he spun on his heels and stormed out of the room, leaving a few people laughing.

"He's such a drama king. He needs to find a Rina. Maybe if Serina could see what a wonderful mar Tyl is, she'd like him, and then he'd stop making such a fuss over nothing."

Obi-Wan pushed his tray away from him. "I'm not hungry anymore. I think I'm going to go find Tyl'Mar and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid right now. I don't want anything to happen to him, now that the clan is…well, changing."

Kahn shuddered. "Yeah, please do that. If you need me, I'll be in one of the work rooms. I've got to kiss up to Lyrina if I want to get a promotion, now that there's a spot open."

Obi-Wan stood up, dumped his tray along with the rest of the trays and took the same exit as Tyl'Mar. Why had Xanatos chosen now to make these changes? Did it have anything to do with Obi-Wan's sudden appearance? Obi-Wan gnawed on his lips as he wound his way through the halls, only guessing where Tyl'Mar might have gone. Tyl normally went to the sleeping quarters to brood, so that's where he figured he'd find him. He turned down the corridor Kahn call "Sleeping Lane" and passed the girl quarters and then the showers before the hall opened into a wider room and then narrowed further into the boys' side of Sleeping Lane. Just before he passed into the open room, he felt Tyl's presence and Serina's. He paused in the hall, wondering what stupidity Tyl had gotten himself into.

"…that obvious?" Tyl was saying.

"Yes. I hope it was nothing I did that made you feel that way."

"_No_, of course not, Serina. It was just that…well, Kahn and I were talking after you left. He was saying that we should be on the lookout for nonbelievers. I know it's so bad of me to think it, but I've got reason to believe that Kahn isn't as faithful as we all thought."

Obi-Wan paled.

"Kahn? Kahn'Mar? Are you sure?" It came out as a whisper.

"Yes. He's always muttering about how he hates how we have our sacrifices, how our Hand is a human—he questions all of our traditions and rules. I feel that he can be a threat to our clan."

"I'll go tell the investigators. He'll be detained as soon as possible."

Obi-Wan withdrew farther back. Where was Kahn'Mar? He had to warn him. Where did he say that he was supposed to be? Maybe he hadn't even left the mess hall. Dashing back the way he'd come, he brushed past people and threw open the cafeteria doors. He scanned the mess hall for Kahn. Not anywhere. He cursed, his heart pounding. If there was one innocent he would risk everything for, it was Kahn. He couldn't _believe_ Tyl'Mar did that. It was ludicrous.

He dragged his feet across the room, hoping he could catch up to Kahn. Searching each signet as he passed, he could feel the weight of his heart as it sagged in his chest. Not Kahn'Mar. He was such a good guy. He didn't deserve to be killed just because his brother was angry. Anger can make even the best of men turn against loved ones, he remembered Qui-Gon telling him once. Well, Tyl had been angry with Kahn'Mar several times. What was so different about this one?

A hand clamped down on his shoulder and swung him around. Obi-Wan's breath caught in his throat as he stared into Xanatos's face. "What are you scurrying around for like that on your injured leg?"

Obi-Wan looked down at his sprained ankle and then back up at Xanatos. He jerked out of Xanatos's hand. "I'm saving a life, what do you think?"

"Kahn'Mar, right?"

He couldn't have been already arrested. "How did you know?"

Xanatos chuckled into his palm. "I've known about Kahn'Mar for a while, especially since you took a liking to him. I expected a more subtle manner in which he'd be brought to justice, but Tool'Mar's method certainly has it perks. Hey, it was entertaining."

Without thinking, Obi-Wan spit on his cheek and walked away. Xanatos's laughter echoed down the hall after him as he hurried away. "You won't find him. I've made sure of that, lover. Don't worry; his death will be slow and painful. I'll try to save some screams for you."

/ — / — / — / — /

**Author's Note:** -sigh- I took my time laying out the beginning and then I hurried through the second half of it. I'm sorry if it sounds too rushed. I was rushing. I feel so bad for not updating sooner. I'm just so lazy. I could do so much better if I just could make myself sit down and write it. It takes me half a day to write a chapter and two months to actually sit down and write it! I'm sorry. I'm not going to promise a chapter any time soon, but I want to update sooner than I did this time. It's just starting to get good! Please review! Tell me what you think.

P.S. Lime Rocker, I know exactly how you feel, which makes me feel really bad. (It was actually the realization that I came to when I read your review that made me start on the chapter, lol). I hate it when authors take their time updating. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	5. Chapter 5: Visitor at Midnight

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Jedi Apprentice_ or _Star Wars_.

**A Believer's Circle**

Chapter 5

_"A Visitor at Midnight"_

Obi-Wan Kenobi, for the hours that followed and finally gave way to the cultists' next morning, did not once see Tyl'Mar since he'd left his hiding place and set out to find Kahn'Mar. Tyl'Mar had acted out of anger, and it would be no surprise to Obi-Wan if he had already begun to lament his hasty action.

If only he could find Tyl'Mar, talk to him. Despite Xanatos's confidence in Kahn's guilt, Obi-Wan figured if Tyl went back to Serina and explained to her what had happened, she would see that he was released. And if a fight between Xanatos and Serina ensued—which was unlikely—then at least it was for the better. Perhaps Serina would then see how fallible Xanatos's plan really was—or how stupid. Tyl'Mar wouldn't be the only one to turn someone in, either out of anger or jealousy or hatred or whatever vileness that germinated within the buried halls of the fortress, and then people would die because of it. Serina, while a cultist, seemed to have a mind of her own and was generally good. She was a strong leader, and perhaps she would be able to offset Xanatos for some time. Enough time, anyway, for Obi-Wan to make a move. If only he could find Tyl'Mar.

He'd spent the entire day after Kahn's arrest looking for Tyl. It was unlikely that Tyl was working, but Obi-Wan couldn't find him in any other place, and the workrooms were prohibited to first-years. At first, Obi-Wan figured that Tyl had been with Serina, either to explain himself or to offer up 'evidence' against Kahn'Mar, but then Serina showed up several times during the day, once to announce their new policy and another time just to see how Obi-Wan and others were doing. Though she'd talked to Obi-Wan, asked him how he was getting along and whether he needed someone else to stick with—"You never know with humans; they always need more than one," she'd told him, and Obi-Wan couldn't decide whether she referred to her situation with Xanatos or just all experiences she'd had with humans, but the bitterness in his tone told him it was a specific person for which she was aiming—she never once mentioned Tyl'Mar or Kahn'Mar. Obi-Wan had ample opportunity to ask about either one, but it wasn't worth it. She wouldn't tell him any more than he already knew.

So now, a day later, Obi-Wan was alone in the cafeteria, wishing he'd stashed food worth eating and wishing he'd followed Tyl'Mar sooner and tried to calm him down and wishing he'd never sparred with Xanatos and wishing he'd never agreed to do this. Well, no, this was bound to happen whether Obi-Wan was there or not, so Kahn'Mar would have become the next sacrifice anyway and there would have been no hope for him to be saved. And Obi-Wan was surely going to save the innocents, inside the cult and outside.

Obi-Wan took his tray of uneaten meat pie and assortment of soggy vegetables to the clean-up table and then exited the mess hall quietly, passing a few faceless cultists talking animatedly about the new regulations. Obi-Wan wanted to strangle them for being sucked into Xanatos's bag of tricks so easily, but that was it, wasn't it? People who were susceptible to joining a cult were the most easily manipulated, the most easily deceived. And then Xanatos was the master deceiver, the one who could manipulate even a strong-willed person.

Before Serina had left him to speak with another cultist, she had mentioned briefly that the prisoners were kept on the other side of the fortress, past the laboratory called Forray Senai. There used to be an entire floor dedicated to dungeons, but when they had first moved into the fortress, the cultists had revamped the entire place, making the dungeons another series of laboratories.

He wanted to see Kahn'Mar, but he also wanted to see what he was up against when rescuing Kahn. He hated the feeling of being a rat in a maze, with the experimenter standing above and watching his every move. He had to be extra careful because Xanatos already _knew_. If he tried to rescue Kahn when everyone was sleeping, Xanatos would be there waiting for him, waiting for a fight, waiting for revenge, waiting for a chance to gloat. If he didn't go to save Kahn, the Vlenarian would die, slowly if Xanatos had anything to do with it—which he did.

_How many days away is the Sacrifice?_ he wondered to himself. Only a day or two. Not good at all.

He passed by the lab, where Jer'Mar was moaning to an associate that he'd lost his key and now the good Serina wouldn't allow him in the lower levels in case he lost it again. He couldn't hide his smile as he heard this.

He turned down the next hall, where two guards stood watch beside a door at the end. They were both cultists that wore signets Obi-Wan could not identify. "Is there something you need, friend of the Hand?" asked the one of the right. She had a thick, lazy voice, one that wove itself around Obi-Wan and vibrated in his ears long after it disappeared. It sounded almost like Serina's, but there was somewhat of a distinction to be made, since this rina's voice sounded almost seductive while Serina was only commanding.

"I want to see Kahn'Mar," he said without faltering.

The other cultist laughed. He was a mar, by the lighter tone of his voice. His height did not differ much from the rina's, but it was still an inch or two shorter. "No one is allowed to see the sacrifices."

"Who else is in there?"

"Sy'Mar," he answered promptly. "But—"

"We have orders to allow the friend of the Hand in to see Kahn'Mar and Sy'Mar if he wanted," said the rina.

The mar grunted, but punched in the code to unlock the cell. "In you go. Just knock if you want out again." As the door sliced shut behind him, he heard the mar say, "Don't know why we have him here if he isn't one of us."

"Hush, Gen'Mar, don't say such things about the friend of the Hand. Everyone who the Hand loves is family to us."

Once the door shut behind him completely, not a sound could be heard, except a series of grunting that seemed very muted. He looked around, assessing the small corridor in front of him. Only four cells where here, two on each side and an empty niche at the very end. He pressed the glowing green icon on the side of the first door and opened a small window where he could gaze in at the sacrifice. Sy'Mar, slumped over a tray of rotten meat, muttered some curses, and threw something at the window. Obi-Wan stepped away from the door and turned to the one behind him. Pressing the button, he stood up on his tippy toes and peered in. Kahn'Mar sat huddled in a corner, his knees drawn up and his face buried in his knees. Obi-Wan opened the door and walked in.

Kahn'Mar looked up, his whitish hair slipping into his face, covering one eye. He didn't move to brush it out of the way. "Obi-Wan."

"Kahn, are you all right?"

"How is Tyl'Mar? Is he okay? I hope they didn't do this to him, too."

Obi-Wan winced. He didn't know. _I'm not going to be the one to tell him_, Obi-Wan assured himself. "He's fine, though I haven't seen much of him lately," Obi-Wan replied gently and slid down on the floor beside Kahn. "Kahn," he whispered, "I'm going to get you out of here, but I need a little bit of your help, okay?"

Kahn shook his head. "No, I have never had much faith in the Hand. I know exactly why I have to be punished. I will stay and accept it. The Mother and the Father will protect me when I go."

Obi-Wan nudged him. "Don't talk like that. There's no reason for you to die. Trust me. There are things the Hand doesn't tell you that he tells me. I know he's not worth dying for."

"You think so?"

"I know it," he answered quickly.

"Are you really the Hand's friend?" asked Kahn.

"He calls me his friend, but then, he calls me his lover, too." Kahn chuckled. "And I know I'm not his lover, and I am pretty sure I'm not his friend."

"How do you know him?"

Obi-Wan shrugged. "It's too long of a story to say, but we've got a past together. He's a very mysterious being, though, but definitely, again, not worth dying for."

"How are you going to get me out of here?"

"Well, see, that's where I need your help…"

/ — / — / — / — /

Obi-Wan had just returned to the sleeping quarters down Sleeping Lane when two cultists stopped him. "You are the friend of the Hand, right?"

"Of course he is, Marina," snapped the one could only be called Jer'Mar. "He's human and he's not wearing his robes."

"Come right this way," Marina said professionally. "We have orders to take you to your new room down below."

"My new room?"

"Yes, the Hand demands that you have a privileged room nearby his own." _He wants to keep a closer watch_, he told himself with a sigh. Great.

He followed the two without any protest. They led him to the lift, where Marina held her card up to a scanner and the light glowed green in response. "Welcome, Marina," it greeted. "To the Research Facility?"

Obi-Wan wondered if she had access somewhere else.

"Yes, the Research Facility."

The durasteel door hissed shut and the lift began its descent.

Jer'Mar asked quietly, "So, is the reason why you wanted to take him down here yourself because you want to be alone with the Hand?"

The air around her suddenly turned hot. "No, of course not," she snapped back. "Not every rumor you hear is true."

"Well, I heard Serina…"

"Just shut up. We have a job to do."

Jer'Mar withdrew sullenly.

Once they got to his room, Marina and Jer'Mar bid him goodnight and left him there alone. They had gone in an entirely different direction from the way Tyl'Mar had taken him, so he assumed Xanatos and Serina were as far away as possible from his room, which made him feel a tad bit better. He entered his room and drank in the moderately decorated room silently. It was a nice room, though it was hardly any different than Xanatos's room. The anterior room was sparely furnished, with a place to sit and a place to put food, and then there was the hall, which led to Obi-Wan's bedroom. Tired, he headed straight for it. It was just as modest, aside from the bed which was slightly bigger and neatly arranged.

He climbed into the bed without much thought and allowed his mind to drift off. If it came between meditation and drifting off, he would chose the latter, even if meditation was a better move. He would be able to clear his mind and think about the way in which he could free Kahn from the clutches of the cultists. He knew he should be thinking of a plan, but he was tired and sleep and drifting off would ease the tension only a little. He had a lot of information Kahn had told him during his visit that his mind needed time to process.

It was around midnight that a shadow appeared in his doorway. The hadn't been any movement, but suddenly there was a figure clad in black standing there. Obi-Wan shifted on his bed, unalarmed, and watched Xanatos meander over to the bed. Rolling over on his back, he gazed up at Xanatos, who had sat on the edge of his bed, and asked sleepily, "What do you want?" It galled him that he could remain so undisturbed when his enemy, the one who wanted to kill Qui-Gon Jinn, the one who had made an attempt on Bant's life, the one who had betrayed the Jedi Order, breathed in the same room as him. And here the villain was, leaning over his form, and all Obi-Wan's body could do was tell him to go back to sleep! What sort of affect did Xanatos have over him? And, more importantly, did he know about it?

"I will admit, lover, that you've hurt my ego," purred Xanatos as he leaned forward and brought his face down to Obi-Wan's so that it was only inches away. His breath felt warm against Obi-Wan's cheek and the tingling sensation brought a slight flush to his cheeks and made his heart twitter for a moment.

"What did I do?" he breathed, sinking further into the pillows, hoping Xanatos would pull back a little.

"I expected you to visit me again, for a spar. You didn't," he pointed out calmly.

"Did you really? After all that's happened?" Obi-Wan asked softly, trying to control his anger. Understanding why he'd be so angry helped pit it down. He needed to channel his energy into Kahn's rescue; fighting with Xanatos would cause more problems.

"Anger is a naughty emotion, isn't it?" Xanatos crooned, bringing the rest of his body so that it sat on top of Obi-Wan. He propped himself up with his arms and gazed down at him lazily.

Obi-Wan tensed. "What are you doing?" He managed to maintain a calm voice as he spoke.

Xanatos's lips twitched, and he brought this mouth down to light nip Obi-Wan's upper lip. "To get what I can't get from Serina."

Obi-Wan turned scarlet as he thrust his elbow into Xanatos's chest and scrambled to the other side of the room. Safely and firmly against the wall and far from Xanatos, Obi-Wan stated, "I'm a Jedi. We don't exploit others' bodies for our own perverse pleasures."

Xanatos laughed from the bed as Obi-Wan studied him warily. He turned over on his side and rested his head on his hand. A silky black strand of hair fell into his eye and he brushed it away without taking his eyes from Obi-Wan. Smiling, he finally continued as he hadn't scared Obi-Wan away. "How's your ankle? I see you're walking on it without much thought about your wellbeing."

"I haven't thought about it, you're right. I've been too busy," he added darkly. "I haven't really noticed it. It doesn't hurt." As he spoke, the embarrassment and vexation slowly seeped away from him. His heart still pounded against his ribcage, and he struggled to comprehend what it meant.

"Sounds like you," Xanatos murmured with his eyes closed. Finally, he opened them and patted the matted sheets where Obi-Wan had been sleeping before he'd struggled out of bed. "Come."

Feeling like a domesticated animal, he came up to the bed, stared at it for a moment, and then lay down beside Xanatos. He felt stiff, lying there like durasteel, with Xanatos so close. "Why are you here? What do you want?" he tried again.

The former Jedi reached over and tugged at Obi-Wan's Padawan braid. "I told you; to get what I couldn't from Serina."

"And what is that?" Obi-Wan asked, eyeing the older man carefully, checking for any hints of deception. Of course, he'd never find any—Xanatos would never be so sloppy.

"Since a spar is totally out of the question—thanks to that ankle of yours—I'm just here to breathe with you." His sapphire blue eyes glittered impishly.

"Then breathe on the other side of the room. I'm trying to sleep, and I'd do better if I didn't have to smell your breath while doing so." Obi-Wan turned on his stomach and pulled the sheets over himself, doing his best to ignore Xanatos.

Xanatos coughed, hiding his smile behind his hand. He settled into the bed, edging closer and closer to Obi-Wan, who clamped his eyes shut and listed off to himself a hundred and two reasons why he shouldn't be flirting with his enemy. He felt a light touch on his lower back, but it was too light and too fast, and soon Xanatos ripped all the sheets off him. He refused to give in.

Xanatos put his arm around him and pulled the slighter Jedi towards him. Obi-Wan responded by turning his face away. When that didn't work, Xanatos brought his mouth close to Obi-Wan's ears and started whispering nonsensical words into his ears, tickling them with soft puffs of air. Obi-Wan thinned his lips, pressing them together tightly. Xanatos's fingers crawled across his body, lingering in the place that earned him a flinch and a yelp. "Ticklish? I'd never thought to ask before." There was laughter in his voice.

Obi-Wan craned his neck to look more closely at his master's former padawan. "Somebody's awfully playful."

"I am. I don't feel much like sleeping."

"I can tell." Obi-Wan frowned, wondering why he was playing along with him. Then it dawned on him. "I'm not your playmate. I'm not your friend. You know that, right?" He expected Xanatos's expression to falter or at least flicker. It didn't.

Xanatos's eyes still sparkled in the shadowy light and his grin held strong. It almost warmed Obi-Wan to the core, but then Xanatos had to speak. "You are what I want you to be," he said seriously, though his expression contrasted with his tone.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what I said," he said with a shrug, the glitter in his eyes and his smile gone now.

"I'm not your pawn. You can't do whatever you want with me."

"Oh, can't I? It's what I've been doing lately."

Obi-Wan sat up and opened his mouth to speak, but Xanatos held his finger to Obi-Wan's lips. "Don't. You'll only frustrate yourself more." Xanatos sank back into the plush bed and chuckled. "Have you ever wondered if you were fighting for the wrong side?"

"No."

"Maybe you should." Closing his eyes, he smiled and took a deep, calm breath.

Reluctantly, Obi-Wan laid back down, cursing the moment he had met Xanatos. He grudgingly relaxed and closed his eyes, wondering if Xanatos was really going to sleep the rest of the night there. Without thinking it through, he peeled off the top blanket and plucked his pillow from the bed and dragged them into the anterior room, where he tossed them onto the couch.

Settling in, he found it much easier to sleep there. It took only half a minute for Xanatos to follow. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sleeping," Obi-Wan stated serenely.

A moment of silence.

Then, "Are you going to stand there all night or are you actually going to do something?"

Xanatos skirted the sofa and crouched in front of him. "What do you want me to do?" he asked huskily.

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and switched sides.

Xanatos tugged off the blanket and folded it carefully so that it was only a small rectangle and threw it over the back of the couch and waited for a reaction. When he didn't get one, he tugged off Obi-Wan's sock. Obi-Wan lifted an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder. Smiling, Xanatos said, "I'm checking to make sure you haven't ruined your ankle even more, you fool." Obi-Wan pushed himself upright and tried to pull his ankle out of Xanatos's grip. "Don't struggle, lover—you'll make it even more delicious."

"You're delusional."

"_That_ may be true." He ran his fingers up and down the smooth and dimpled ankle, rubbing and caressing, making Obi-Wan grind his teeth in annoyance. "Do you want me to kiss it? Think it might work?"

"What—do you take me for a child?"

"Perhaps." He bent down and planted a kiss, feathery and gossamer fine, on the ankle bone. Obi-Wan's breath caught in his throat. He hadn't expected him to do it. He was just teasing, right? Feeling Obi-Wan tense underneath his fingers, Xanatos looked up. "Feel better already?" Obi-Wan's tongue felt heavy as he tried to think of a response. Receiving the response he wanted, Xanatos bent his head down again and kissed the ankle bone again, this time letting his lips linger.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Mmm, something I shouldn't."

"Do you feel comfortable around me?" Obi-Wan wanted to know. The question surprised him when it echoed in his ears, but he agreed it was a legitimate question—and the answer was clear. Xanatos, son of Crion of Telos and former Jedi apprentice of Qui-Gon Jinn, was kneeling before him and kissing his foot. Softly. Gently. Something that no one would ever suspect a greedy, revenge-hungry criminal to be capable of.

This question caught Xanatos off guard. He shook his head, not in response to the question, but as a gesture of confusion. "I don't understand you. You're sleepy, you're angry, you're playful, then angry, and now…I mean, you think _I'm_ crazy. You are totally inconsistent."

"I am not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"I'm right, you're wrong—get used to it. It's a fact of life."

Obi-Wan grunted.

Xanatos returned to his work on Obi-Wan's ankle, stroking the protruding ankle bone as if he was rubbing in his kiss. Obi-Wan sighed in surrender, silently denying that he was actually enjoying this. "I'm still going to save Kahn'Mar."

"There. You did it again. Stop it."

"I'm just saying. You can try any tactic, and it won't work."

Xanatos narrowed his eyes in a mock frown. "Then perhaps I should kill you instead; then you can't save him."

"Perhaps you should, but I don't think you can."

"Is that a challenge, lover?"

"I'm not your lover. And it just might be…"

Xanatos lifted himself onto the couch at Obi-Wan's feet and then moved in, so that he was close to Obi-Wan's face. "No, that's where you're wrong. You _are_ my lover."

"And I just don't know about it yet?"

Xanatos laughed. "You do now." And he went in for a kiss.

/ — / — / — / — /

**Author's Note:** hmm, this chapter was unexpected (-looks over notes pointedly and sighs-). Well, it fits in despite the fact that it's not really important, so I guess I'll post it. Anyway, it's the shortest chapter so far, and though I'm totally unhappy with that little fact, I can't expand it to be longer because then I'll just ramble and nobody will want to read it. Also noteworthy: I am thinking about _changing the rating_. I know nothing has happened yet that makes it anything above a T-rating, but if Xanatos and Obi-Wan keep moving at this pace, I might have to up it a notch to keep up with them. I never planned on anything more than a few kisses and references to sex, but I might end up writing a little more. I've never written a sex scene before, so I might not. I haven't decided yet. Stay tuned and you'll find out. Or you can guide me in the right direction with one of your amazing reviews…

_Please review! Reviews make me want to write more..._


	6. Chapter 6: To Sacrificial Rights

**Author's Note:** I lost my notes! And without my notes, I'm so lost! It's okay, really. I found my notebook a few days ago. Here is my promised update (oh, and the way, I was so upset that I lost the notebook, I didn't realize that I hadn't written any notes for this particular chapter—retard that I am). I'm sorry for the long wait.

WARNING: if hotness (kissing, making out, and references to sex) offends you, don't read this chapter. It's nothing exceptionally graphic, but there's a lot of it. I warn you, what I might consider non-graphic might be graphic to someone else, so read with caution. (I'll sum up the important stuff at the beginning of the following chapter)

**A Believer's Circle**

Chapter 6

_To Sacrificial Rights_

On the morning (night) of the long-awaited sacrifice, Obi-Wan paced restlessly up and down the hall. His plan was solid; he knew that. But nothing was so solid that Xanatos couldn't break through, as Obi-Wan realized when he'd first begun to notice his own feelings toward Xanatos. No, he wouldn't say, _couldn't_ say, that he was in love with Xanatos, because he wasn't. The ex-Jedi was too arrogant, too secretive, too bloodthirsty, too…well, he was the extremities of all of the anti-virtues the Jedi Order taught to Obi-Wan throughout the years.

But there was a feeling, just a measly _feeling_, that pricked his skin whenever Xanatos was near. It wasn't the force, he knew that, but it was something else. Not love, not hate, just a feeling. And only Xanatos's presence could produce it.

That wretched ex-Jedi! He had broken through whatever shields Obi-Wan had created around himself, which, he had figured, were strong because they were the shields that the Order and Qui-Gon helped him strengthen over the years. It took one regretful night to penetrate. One night, and Obi-Wan's world came crashing down to his feet.

And he wasn't even in love.

Yet.

Not _yet_. Not _ever_.

Obi-Wan passed by the two guards posted in front of the prisoner ward. With their hoods, he couldn't tell who they were, but they were both tall, which at least gave away their genders. Two rinas. Two very large rinas. None who were familiar to him, he noticed as he called out to the force.

This plan would work. It wasn't so much that he worried the plan wouldn't work as he was worried about the actual plan itself. This plan was almost infallible, _almost_ being the operative word, but what he had to do to fortify it was what worried him the most. Xanatos, he wondered, would he go along with it? From what Obi-Wan had noticed these past few days was that Xanatos wanted a playmate. And if he got that playmate, perhaps he would not be so mindful of Obi-Wan and his crusade against the cult.

He hadn't told Kahn'Mar just how he was going to save him. He told Kahn exactly what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. He had assured him that he, himself, knew what to do and would be there to help him get free. At whatever cost. And now that he had a plan to help him go through with it, he wasn't so sure it was a price he was willing to pay. But it was infallible.

Breakfast slipped by undetected, then lunch. How much longer could he wait? He needed to find Xanatos, but he _knew_ where Xanatos was. He was going to be present at the sacrifice, wasn't he? Didn't that mean that he needed to help with the preparations? Of course he wasn't going to show his face in front of Obi-Wan, not today when he could not afford to pursue anything else. But Obi-Wan's plan required Xanatos's presence.

He finally retired to his room, without much luck. How often did he just 'bump' into Xanatos without Xanatos having reason to talk to him?

Obi-Wan waited in his rooms for as long as he could. Time ticked by relentlessly, faster and faster it rode toward the cult's so-called "night" and Xanatos hadn't been doing anything in public. That damned ex-Jedi!

Obi-Wan's patience was only so strong. When he could no longer handle waiting, he charged out of his room into the cool, darkened corridor—and bumped into Xanatos.

"What's this impatience I sense around you, lover?" The corners of Xanatos's lips twitched playfully, his eyes emblazoned with the strangest passion from someone like Xanatos—playfulness.

"I can't help it if my friend is going to be ruthlessly and pointlessly killed. Do you expect me to be excited?"

"In a manner of speaking, you are," Xanatos pointed out, only to be rebuked with an arched eyebrows and a scowl. He shrugged. "You've been waiting for me. Is there something you require?"

Obi-Wan tugged on his lower lip, his eyes flickering to the shiny durasteel of his chamber door. _Now your chance, Obi-Wan; let the games begin!_ He inhaled deeply. _Make it seem like you're not doing this purposely, _please. "Why did you kiss me?"

Xanatos purred. "Why did you kiss me back?"

That_ was unintended_, he replied in his head. He tried his hand at nonchalance and rolled his shoulders casually. "I've never been kissed before."

"I thought so," Xanatos said laughing. "You're the worst kisser I've ever come across, and that's really saying something."

Blood crept into his cheeks at Xanatos's assertion and he looked away. _Would it be too obvious if I invited him to help hone my kissing skills?_ It was most certainly a flirtatious remark, but Xanatos was intelligent. He would have noticed. He chose the simplest answer. "I don't find the need to kiss very important; it's most certainly not a priority on my list of requirements to become a Jedi."

"Oh, but perhaps you needed information out of somebody and the only way to obtain it was through seduction? Isn't that an important skill to know?" Xanatos teased.

Obi-Wan masked his disconcertment with a wave of his hand and a scoff. "The Jedi are more likely to use brute force than seduction. Though we Jedi are called the Keepers of Peace, it doesn't mean that we are in opposition to force when it's necessary. Force is, by definition, more preferable than seduction."

Xanatos took a few predatory steps toward Obi-Wan and bent down enough to whisper in his ear. "Let me give you some advice, Obi-Wan. _Some_ men would rather die than give up their information. Seduction is the only way with _those_ types of men."

Obi-Wan shivered and wondered whether Xanatos's words were double-edged. Perhaps Xanatos was advising him how to handle him. This thought deepened the sudden flush in Obi-Wan's cheeks. Was Xanatos saying he wanted Obi-Wan to seduce him? _Well, that's what I'm doing, right?_ he thought to himself.

He sidestepped out of Xanatos's way. "My ankle is feeling better." He looked up questioningly into Xanatos's eyes. "Do you have time for a spar?"

Xanatos nodded. "I sure can find time for that." He paused. "Are you sure your ankle is all right?"

"Yes."

Xanatos's face broke out in a grin as he seized Obi-Wan's arm and tugged him down the hall. "The only thing better than a spar is a good fuck. If I'm lucky, I just might get that, too."

Obi-Wan jerked out of his grip, stumbling to set his own pace. "You're not, trust me." He maintained a cool, bored edge to his voice, and it only excited Xanatos even more.

"I don't know; today has been lucky so far."

Xanatos led them to the warehouse room, empty aside from the stacks of boxes gathered to form a loosely constructed arena. As they strode in through the hissing doors, the older man flipped the switch to turn on the lights. They flickered and then buzzed to life, lighting the arena with dull illumination and casting elongated shadows across the floor.

"Temple rules, you know, lover," said Xanatos, tossing his midnight blue lined robe onto a storage bin, and a cloud of dust exploded into the air around them. Xanatos pushed right through it onto the arena, and Obi-Wan crossed through it coughing.

"That means no cheating."

"Me? Cheat? Why, Obi-Wan, that's an awful thing to accuse a friend of doing!"

"It's awful for a _friend_ to tell the truth? Since when?" Obi-Wan fired back. Relief flooded him as he came into the designated area and at last he crossed the threshold into the known world once more. Flirting—something he knew nothing about. But fighting? That was something he could handle.

"_Were_ you telling the truth? It most certainly didn't sound that way to me."

"And _you_ are accusing _me_ of lying? What a friend _you_ are!"

Xanatos held out a milky white hand and called out to his lightsaber. Barely touching the flesh on his hand, the lightsaber flashed on. Xanatos did a flourish with his wrist and a mock bow before crouching into an offensive position.

Obi-Wan hardly had a second to reach for his lightsaber before Xanatos sang out "Ready?" and went in for a stroke. Deflecting the soft blow and stepping to the left, Obi-Wan launched his own attack, a low attack, to Xanatos's defenseless shins. Xanatos leapt out of the way, twisting around to catch Obi-Wan on his opposite side.

They swirled and danced around one another for what seemed like eternity—Xanatos hardly working up a sweat and Obi-Wan covered in it. Obi-Wan played defense-wise while Xanatos attacked relentlessly.

Lightsabers locked, Xanatos stomped on Obi-Wan's foot, catching him by surprise, and kicked him in the stomach. Obi-Wan staggered backwards, his heart pounding in chest, his blood pumping hungrily through his veins. He looked up in time to sidestep out of the charging Xanatos's way and kick his butt. "Ooo, I like them feisty!" Xanatos growled, turning around with another blow prepared.

Ducking, Obi-Wan struck out at Xanatos's knees. "You're getting higher!" observed Xanatos. "I hope you don't destroy my package before you have a chance to admire it. I have a feeling you just might like it."

Obi-Wan growled and attacked, his blue lightsaber meeting Xanatos's red one with a crackle and a hiss. "There's nothing you have that I'd admire."

"Tsk tsk. You don't have to be so shy about it. It's okay to like men. I sure do. Especially ones that blush."

Obi-Wan gritted his teeth and swung his lightsaber again, his muscles rebelling against each movement.

"Na ah ah! You're getting sloppy!" Xanatos sang. "Am I making you angry?"

_No! Of course not, you're just making my muscles shake and my hand tremble and my heart pound so hard in my chest that my ribcage is hurting. No, of course you're not making me angry!_

Trapped again in another lock, legs shaking, arms threatening to quit on the job, Obi-Wan took the weak way out. He leaned forward, closing his eyes in complete trust in the force and in Xanatos, and planted a blind kiss on Xanatos's lips.

The shock was everything he had hoped it would be. Xanatos staggered backward, eyes wide. "You sure know how to win a fight," he said, turning off his lightsaber.

Panting, Obi-Wan did the same. "I do what I can." He plopped down on a box and covered his face in his hands.

Xanatos sank silently onto the cool metallic surface beside him and eased one of Obi-Wan's hands away from his face. "You've been out of practice too long," he said gently, planting a feathery-light kiss on the drenched palm. Obi-Wan turned his face away in an endeavor to ignore it. Xanatos raised his lips and said, "Once this is all over, you can get back into shape." Another kiss to his wrist.

He pulled back the sleeves of Obi-Wan's robe and bent down to press his lips to the blue veins weaving underneath Obi-Wan's tan skin. By the time wet warmth began tracing those same veins up his arm to the junction between the upper and lower arm, he could no longer look away. He stared at the former Jedi as he lapped at the salty taste of his arm. Black satiny hair concealed his face and expression, and Obi-Wan, without thinking, reached out to brush it away.

Whether Obi-Wan intended it or not, it had been the correct action. Xanatos looked up, the smile gone from his face, the curiosity long since faded from his eyes, both replaced by unmistakable lust. "Are you wearing anything underneath that robe of yours?" he asked, huskily.

"N-no."

"Good." He dropped Obi-Wan's hand and leaned forward to kiss Obi-Wan flat on the lips. Obi-Wan remained still, his heart rate steadily increasing as the seconds passed by. "Does that feel as good to you as it does to me?" came Xanatos's husky question.

Obi-Wan shivered as Xanatos's words and breath rolled over him. The dark Jedi came in for another kiss, this time more demanding and less patient. He held Obi-Wan's head still with one hand and placed the other hand on the small of Obi-Wan's back. The kiss was at a slant, though close-lipped as it was, and Xanatos captured Obi-Wan's lower lip and nibbled on it until Obi-Wan granted him access to his mouth.

The kissing seemed to go on forever, the heat in the room rising to dangerous levels. Xanatos hands roamed Obi-Wan's body, finding every dip and curve, every muscle, and every bit of fat. Xanatos lowered his mouth to Obi-Wan's neck and nibbled the unblemished skin there while snaking a hand down Obi-Wan's back, only to knead Obi-Wan's butt. And for the first time, Obi-Wan reacted.

He groaned into Xanatos's hair and arched his body upwards so it fit with every curve on the Jedi's body. His mind, his mission, his promise to Kahn'Mar all vanished from his thoughts. The memories of the spar, the sweat that glistened on his body, the ribcage that was sore from the workout, all of these things were forgotten. All he could think about what how good Xanatos felt. How good Xanatos's lips and tongue had tasted. How sinuous his body felt underneath his fingers as he explored the older Jedi's body, too.

It was…it was so wrong. So terribly wrong. Jedi's strayed from such practices to avoid dependencies, emotional complications, and loss of control, but here was Obi-Wan, giving into that same exact act, losing himself in a flurry of lustful kisses, hardly stifled moans, and sinful caresses. He threw away his Order, his mission, his master, his friends, everything in this moment. He was just a blank page.

And he liked it.

For once he knew what it felt like to be normal. To have a physical relationships. How often had he been hugged as a pupil? Sure, Bant gave him hugs now and then. When she was seeing him off, when his birthday came around, when he hadn't seen her in a long time. But truly affectionate, non-platonic embraces? Kisses? Caresses?

Whether or not his so-called relationship was normal, it felt normal. It felt natural. Every palpation, every warmly whispered moan, every nibble, everything felt so good. So wrong, but so terribly good.

Obi-Wan, in his blissfully sensitive dream world, didn't notice when Xanatos's hand explore bare flesh. All he knew was that whatever Xanatos was doing, it felt superb. It produced more body heat and an ache in his groin that he'd never felt before—and ache that worsened and worsened with each stroke against Xanatos's hardened body. He sighed into the silky hair brushing up against his face.

Who cared if Xanatos didn't love him?

Wait…what?

He stiffed beneath Xanatos, his heart stopping, his blood cooling.

It didn't matter. He didn't love Xanatos, either. He was doing this to save Kahn'Mar. Xanatos…he needed to be distracted for a while. Everything was in place. Xanatos was doing exactly as planned.

Xanatos froze. "What's wrong?" he forced out, slight panic in his voice.

_This is what I wanted! Who cares if what I wanted feels better than I expected?!_

Xanatos's grip on his shoulder tightened. "Obi-Wan? What's wrong with you?"

_I don't want this! Qui-Gon prepared me for so many things, but this is not one of this. I'm…I'm scared._

Xanatos shook him once and then again. "Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan shook his hands off.

Xanatos, taking a hint, climbed off him and stood up, breathing deeply.

Obi-Wan, pale and cool, sat up. "I'm okay."

"You sure don't look okay."

"I think I need some water."

"You think or you need?"

"Need."

Xanatos offered a hand. "I've got some water in my room."

Obi-Wan studied the hand. To him, it symbolized mind-blowing pleasure, which triggered confusion. He battered it away and stood up on his own. "I'm a little hungry, too. Where is the kitchen down here?"

Xanatos didn't seem phased at Obi-Wan refusal. "Come on, I'll show you." He spun around on his heels, snatching up his robe and throwing over his shoulders all in one motion, and headed for the door. Obi-Wan paused to recompose himself and then followed him.

They were both silent as they descended a small flight of stairs into the private kitchen. Xanatos waved his hand smoothly and switched on the light. It was bright in here, and the sudden change of brightness caused Obi-Wan to grimace and rub his eyes.

Xanatos didn't notice. He crossed the steely floor and grabbed a cup. "Cold water?"

"Yes, please."

As he poured ice water into the cup, he pressed his lips together pensively. He opened his mouth to say something and then closed it immediately.

Feeling the need for silence, Obi-Wan was grateful the former Jedi didn't utilize the free moment to say something cutting or derisive. He slid onto a stool across the counter from Xanatos and stared at the scar on his face.

Xanatos turned the water off but didn't hand the glass over. He placed it on the cold stone surface of the counter and stared at it, a sigh rise and falling in his throat.

_He's going to say something_, Obi-Wan thought to himself as dread washed over him.

"I wouldn't normally apologize, but I…guess things got a little too…heated." He offered a weak smile, though he did not meet Obi-Wan's solemn gaze. "I should have acknowledged that you'd never done that sort of thing. It's the not Jedi way, after all," he added in a saintly voice. He paused and lifted his eyes to Obi-Wan's. "You know, it's okay to be scared sometimes, and if you just give me a chance, you'd find that you really have nothing to fear from me."

_Why are you saying this to me? How much would you really lie to get me to sleep with you?_

Instead of replying, Obi-Wan stretched over the counter and grabbed the water. "Thanks for the water. What do we have to snack on?"

Xanatos pushed away from the sink and turned toward the pantry. "Haven't really had much time to restock on supplies, but I'm sure I could find something to make a sandwich with or something."

He rummaged through the cabinet before finding something that suited him, and then he brought it to the counter with a sigh. "Look, I'd better go. I think you need some time to think." He turned to leave.

Obi-Wan winced. "No, don't go."

_Why not? He'll only talk and make you want to do it all over again_.

Satisfied and smug, Xanatos faced him once more. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Positive. Sit down with me."

Xanatos nodded to the bread and peanut butter. "No sandwich?"

Obi-Wan shook his head. "I'm not really hungry."

"I figured." He took a seat quietly beside Obi-Wan.

It felt so odd to maintain that long silence in Xanatos's presence. Despite how Xanatos felt about it, he felt comfortable. Just hearing the former Jedi breathe in and breathe out beside him, feeling the body heat pulse around him, it was all comforting. And tantalizing.

How are you going to explain to Qui-Gon Jinn what you did to distract Xanatos while Kahn escaped? What time is it, anyway? Is it around that time?

Xanatos fidgeted. "I'm sorry?" he ventured.

Obi-Wan frowned and swiveled around in his seat to face Xanatos directly. "What are you going to tell Serina?"

Xanatos's eyes grew wide. "Serina?"

"You two are dating, aren't you?"

Xanatos coughed. "Usually, I don't tell her these types of things. It's easier on our relationship, mind you."

"Deceitful in every aspect, then?"

"You know me. It's part of my very nature. I do it more naturally than I breathe."

"I don't know. You breathe quite a bit. Are you being deceitful now?"

Xanatos grinned. "I don't know. Ask me a better question and I might be able to answer you."

_A better question? Do you love me?_

_Why does it keep going back to that? I don't love him, so why does it matter how he feels about me?_

"Let's see…um…do you love me?"

Xanatos's grin broadened and he brought his face close to Obi-Wan's. Obi-Wan struggled not to shiver as Xanatos's hot breath caressed his skin. "What do you think?" He pressed his lips to Obi-Wan's.

He pulled back long enough for Obi-Wan to respond with, "I don't know; do you?"

Another small kiss and he tugged at Obi-Wan's bottom lip with his teeth until Obi-Wan relented and opened his mouth for a deeper, more filling kiss. Xanatos groaned into his mouth. "Yes."

Taking the opportunity of air to gain his grounding once more, he shoved Xanatos away playfully. "You _are_ being deceitful. You are good at it but not _that_ good."

What a lie.

"I'm being honest. I'm attracted to you."

"Attraction is different than love," Obi-Wan assured him with a stern look.

Xanatos pulled him closer. "Your skin is intoxicating, your remarks only turn me on, your scent makes me shudder, and I had a dream about you last night. Doesn't that count as love?"

"I don't know," Obi-Wan replied, a smile teasing his lips.

_Yes!_

_No! Don't do this again!_

_Please, _please_, maintain some sort of control. _

Despite all the warning signs that surfaced, he wrapped his arms around Xanatos's neck and raked his fingers through black tendrils.

"Does that dream involve me…_doing_ stuff?"

_For Kahn. For the Princess's sister. For Vlenaria. This isn't for myself._

"Yep. Lots of stuff." A feathery kiss to his neck. A skip of a heart beat. A sigh.

"Like what?" A moan.

"You were touching me—everywhere—and you—" A nibble on his neck, a little harder this time but sensuous all the same, "you kissed me here and you—" His fingers traced Obi-Wan spine, extracting shivers and whispery moans from Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan retracted his hands and put his hands on Xanatos's marble chest, staying him. "I think we'd better go to your room," he gasped.

Though he was surprised, Xanatos looked more pleased with himself than anything. He nodded. "Let me carry you?"

Obi-Wan stood up and glared at him. "Don't push it."

With that, Xanatos ushered him off down the hall to their rooms. They passed a rina as they hurried by, but Obi-Wan was in no state to recognize anyone. He wouldn't even have recognized Yoda had he walked by.

As soon as they arrived to Xanatos's room, he deftly punched in the code, the door swooshed open, and he snagged Obi-Wan as the door hissed behind them. "Someone's a little excited."

"Having me alone in my room for a make-out session doesn't excite you?"

_I can't stop trembling, what do you think?_

"Or the prospect that we fuck and I show you how good it feels to be loved."

Obi-Wan was too stuck on the "we fuck" part to fully digest what Xanatos had meant by "loved."

Xanatos bent down for another kiss. Obi-Wan didn't resist.

By the time Obi-Wan had memorized and tasted every inch of Xanatos's skin and Xanatos was lounging on his back on his sleep couch, his eyes hardly parted and his mouth curved contentedly, Obi-Wan caught his breath and lay beside his enemy, resting his head in the crook of Xanatos's arm.

"I couldn't be more satisfied—unless we'd just fucked, that is. But now I'm not even up for the challenge."

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "And it would be a losing challenge, anyway."

"We've got all night, anyway. Maybe we'll both change our minds later." Xanatos bent his head a little and planted a kiss to Obi-Wan's temple.

"All night?" Obi-Wan winced and looked up questioningly into Xanatos's face.

"All night. You know, with the sacrifice being postponed and everything."

Obi-Wan blinked. "What?"

"Postponed. Why do you look so surprised?" Xanatos smirked. "You weren't planning anything, were you?"

_Damn it. I guess we'll have to do it again._

And, somehow, that didn't seem so bad.

"By the way, when I feel like letting go of you, Serina's looking for you."

/ - / - / - / - / - /

**Author's Note Again:** So what do you think? I focused too much on the two being together rather than the other more pressing problems, but I think some sort of development between them is important right now. I'm bringing Obi-Wan out of his lovestruck bubble next chapter. Tyl and Serina are both being drawn back into the storyline. And in the chapters coming up (not necessarily next chapter), expect to see a little bit of Qui-Gon and the Princess—I can't think of her name right now). One thing: it strikes me as odd how easily Obi-Wan digests the fact that he's kissing, flirting, and making out with a taken man—his enemy. But it fits. I'm not sure how. Oh, and one more thing. I don't know if I mentioned it before or not, but apparently there is a top/bottom connotation that I never knew about until now, so for this story, it's Xanatos/Obi-Wan, and not the other way around. Xanatos seems like he'd be more dominant than Obi-Wan.

Anyway, tell me what you think (tell me if I've gone beyond my rating, too). _Review_. I love reading reviews. They make me so happy!


	7. Chapter 7: Deeper into the Shadows

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _Jedi Apprentice_ or _Star Wars_; Jude Watson and George Lucas do.

Recap: Obi-Wan has a plan to seduce Xanatos in order to distract him. Kahn is supposed to escape and when Xanatos is... incapacitated, Obi-Wan is supposed to help Kahn. His plan doesn't work out because Xanatos has postponed the sacrifice. Also, Obi-Wan is falling more and more for Xanatos, even if he thinks otherwise. Um, I think that's about it.

**A Believer's Circle**

Chapter 7

_Deeper into the Shadows_

"There were two in the beginning, but now there are ten. _Ten_, Obi-Wan. And I can't help but to think that some of them aren't really at fault." Serina hugged herself as a cool night breeze shifted through the forest trees.

Obi-Wan paused before asking, "Why are you telling me?"

She turned her face towards him and took his hand in her cool ones. "Because I feel like I can trust you. Because your mind isn't clouded by our rules. Because you know Xanatos well. Because you know Kahn'Mar. I love Xanatos," she said sadly. "More than, I think, he loves me. But sometimes I question whether he's right. Kahn…he always lacked in passion for the Hand, but…that doesn't mean he should be killed."

Obi-Wan slowly detached himself from her. "So it's okay to kill people you don't know but not those you do?" He could not hide the icy edge that laced his voice.

"It's easier, don't you think?"

Patches of moonlight surrounded them, lighting the path that stretched out before their feet. A rustling of leaves and a few mourning caws signaled the departure of a few night birds at the sound of their voices. Obi-Wan quickened his pace unconsciously, which produced a gap between the two. Understanding, Serina didn't bother closing it.

"Killing is hard for me. No matter who it is."

"You're a…Jedi, aren't you?"

Obi-Wan slowed down once more. "How do you know?"

"Xanatos told me."

"Are…"

_No, don't ask it. You know you couldn't bear it if she said yes._

"Are you and Xanatos really close then?" he asked softly.

"I'd like to think so. He tells me so much…you would think he tells me everything. The rest I just…sort of fill in. I know he isn't faithful. He finds a new _fuck_ toy—excuse my language—every once in a while, but he always gets tired of them and comes home to me." Though her words were reassuring, she did not sound so confident.

Obi-Wan stepped away from her. How would she react if she found out about him and Xanatos? "Would you marry him if he had given you the chance?"

"In a second. I don't care what Vlenarians say about Humans. Nobody knows Xanatos like I do. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one he shows his real self to." She looked at him from underneath his hood, her eyes glowing in the darkness. "Do you ever feel that way when around him?"

Obi-Wan shrugged. "No, it's all deceit and lies with Xanatos when I'm with him."

She laughed. "Oh, don't be so mean. Xanatos speaks so fondly of you. I expected the same from you!"

Obi-Wan's pulsed raced. "He speaks fondly of me?"

"Of course. All the time."

_This is ridiculous, Obi-Wan. Why does this make you happy? Xanatos is cheating on this devoted rina with you, and it makes you excited to hear her talk about him about you? Disgusting._

"How long have you been seeing each other?" he asked, trying to swallow the current of emotion running through his blood. He looked up at the starry sky, and closed his eyes, trusting the force to guide him along.

"More than two years. I only see him every once in a while. He…he spends much time with the other Hand. I think he likes her."

"I haven't seen the other Hand."

Serina reached for his hand again, and this time he allowed her to hold it in silence. He wasn't so sure why she wanted to touch him—Vlenarians were cool creatures by nature, and they did not like warm-blooded Humans very much—but if it made her feel better…feel like opening up a little about the cult, the absent Hand, and, especially, about Xanatos, then why not?

Serina rolled her shoulders and squeezed his hand. "She doesn't come around all that often. She has business outside the cult. She is usually the one who decides who dies and who does not."

Back to murder, once more.

"At least you don't get to choose, is that it?"

"Obi-Wan, you Jedi are so complex. I don't understand you. You can be sympathetic, yet so antagonistic at the same time. I'm sorry I'm not like you. There are some unpleasant things we have to do, but it's worth it, I think."

"Really?"

"I mean, we're orphans. I was the youngest out of two girls. They didn't kill me—I don't know why. But they called me Serina Two, and they pretended as if I didn't exist. I'm not sad. I mean, I met Sy'Mar and he told me about the family. They took me in. For someone who never had acceptance, I think that sacrifices are worth it."

Obi-Wan remained silent.

"It's all right if you don't understand, I understand that your world is different than mine. People are more tolerant there. Not here. Do you think I'm selfish?"

Obi-Wan sighed. "No, I understand, even if I don't agree with you," he replied slowly. "Who knows what I would have done in your situation? But you shouldn't have to do certain things, go against your beliefs and morals, do things that make you uncomfortable just for friends. Friends accept you for who you are, not for who they want you to be."

She leaned into him and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Obi-Wan, you are so sweet and kind. I can see why Xanatos likes you so much. He must not find very many people like you. I hope I can be strong like you one day."

"Have you ever spoken to Xanatos about how you feel?"

She nodded slowly. "I have."

"What did he say?"

"Something odd. He said something about the other Hand. I don't really remember."

_How much does Xanatos tell her? How much is she willing to share with me?_

Obi-Wan nodded to the creek coursing through the brush ahead of them. "Vlenaria has so many wonders. A few days in that old fortress makes you really appreciate it."

"You don't have to stay, if you don't want to. I mean, you aren't really one of us, are you?"

Unsure of how to reply, he said nothing.

"I don't mean it cruelly. It's just that…well, why are you here? Did you leave the Jedi Order to join us?"

Obi-Wan took a deep breath. Perhaps he should tell her the truth—she was clearly having doubts and she would be a great ally…but she liked Xanatos too much. But Xanatos knew why he was here. So…did it really matter? "I want to stop the murders. I don't think your family so horrible, but I can't leave it alone until it leaves everyone else alone."

She let go of his hand and crouched near the spring, dipping her hands into the water and disrupting the current. She stayed in that pose for a while, breathing softly, at ease. Then, suddenly, her thick voice broke the silence.

"It must really hurt you that Kahn is the next Sacrifice."

"It's not just Kahn, but yes, that does disturb me. Just as much as it disturbs you."

"And Sy'Mar. He never much liked you, but he tolerated you because the Hand demanded it. He was always as faithful to the Hand as I was, but…somehow he ended up behind bars and I'm still sleeping in my quarters. I've…been wanting to see him lately, but every time I pass down that hall, I turn and walk away. Do…do you think that…that perhaps…you could go see him for me?"

Obi-Wan nodded. "I'd been planning to visit the prisoners anyway."

"Do you really think you could save them all?"

_No_.

"I've always done what I could, so that's what I'll do."

She drew back her hand and buried it back into the folds of her robe. "If…if you ever need any help, just ask me. I won't openly defy Xanatos—I trust him—but…if I can give you some information or something to help preserve Kahn or Sy…I will."

/ - / - / - / - / - /

Obi-Wan and Serina ate their lunch in a different sort of silence. And when it was over, Serina dismissed herself, claiming she had something to do—and now that Sy'Mar was no longer there, she had a difficulty managing things on her own and she rarely had free time.

Obi-Wan, once again, had absolutely nothing to do, so he started down the hallway towards the prisoners. They were a lot, according to Serina. He wanted to visit every single one of them. He wanted to talk to them, comfort them, and he wanted to know what they thought about their imprisonment—if they truly believed they felt they deserved it. He wanted to convince them that he could help them. And he wanted to gather information.

He stepped out of the mess hall with a large crowd of Vlenarians. Some of them were older and they were heading towards the laboratories. He followed them.

"Obi-Wan!"

He stopped and turned. A few hooded cultists stood off to the side of the corridor talking in tight-knit groups, but none of them seemed to have called his name. He frowned. He couldn't detect who'd called him—all of their voices sounded the same. He turned around and continued walking, hoping that if someone truly had wanted to speak with him, he would have caught up.

A presence behind him informed him that it was urgent. Tyl'Mar.

He turned around just as Tyl was about to pat him on the shoulder. Tyl's hand dropped dumbly and they stared at each other. "Can we talk somewhere else?" he finally asked.

Obi-Wan nodded. "Sure."

"Follow me."

Tyl'Mar turned around and led Obi-Wan through the long corridors. He wove in and out of crowds as they chatted animatedly in the their afternoon. Obi-Wan reached out with the force to read Tyl's emotions. He was anxious. Guilty. Sorry. He realized he did something wrong. That was an improvement.

They entered the sleeping quarters, which was heavily deserted during the day. Obi-Wan sank down into the bed he'd once used and looked up at Tyl, waiting. "How have you been?" he asked when Tyl made no movement to speak.

Tyl sighed and collapsed down on the bed beside him. "Not so well. I've been doing a lot of thinking. Kahn's my brother. I…we left our parents because they couldn't accept him. I didn't want him to die, and I don't want him to die now. Ugh." He buried his face in his hands. "I didn't expect this to happen. I thought…Well, Serina's always really liked him. How could she _do_ this?"

Obi-Wan raised his hand and place it gently on the mar's bony shoulders. "I don't think she likes it much, either."

"Then…why doesn't she go up to that _Human_ and talk to him? She has enough influence, too, right?"

Obi-Wan shrugged. "Nobody has enough influence over the Hand."

"Not even the rina that sleeps with him? Not even his friend, you?"

"The Hand is…hard to understand. He's complex."

Tyl looked up at Obi-Wan. "You are going to save Kahn, right? I'll do anything. I don't care about this place. I don't want to be part of a place that pretends to protect you from one prejudice and then persecutes you for another. Who gives a damn whether he doesn't like killing others? Does he deserve to die for that?"

It was a rhetorical question, but Obi-Wan answered anyway. "No, he doesn't.

"Look, Tyl'Mar, I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that Kahn and everyone else leaves this place alive. And your help is greatly appreciated. We need to make a plan. And I need you for information."

"Sure. What do you need to know?"

"Why don't you start by telling me how a sacrifice works? What the rituals work, how sacrifices killed, how this is supposed to please the Hands…?"

/ - / - / - / - / - /

Sy'Mar's hair was cropped short and brown with a dirt and oil mixture, his bluish tinted skin looked oily and had shed several layers over the cell, his eyes were dark and full of despair but when he lifted those eyes to see who had disturbed his solitude, his eyes filled with pure hatred.

"You, the friend of the hand. Why are you here?"

"I'm here for Serina." The door hissed shut behind him and he stood awkwardly in front of it. The one person he hadn't wanted to speak to was Sy'Mar, but Sy'Mar was just as innocent as all the rest. "She misses you."

"Misses me? She was the one who put me here! The damn Human-lover!" he growled. "If she had listened to me in the first place, none of this would have happened. She's destroying the family that I had spent so many years bringing together! And it's all because that stupid—"

Obi-Wan held up his hands. "It's all right."

"No. No," said Sy as he jumped to his feet. Obi-Wan instinctively stepped back but hit the door. "It's not all right. When I agreed to those stupid sacrifices, I was being stupid. I was blind to the fact that Serina is a liar, a Human-lover, a traitorous snake, a—a—"

"She feels that they're wrong, too, Sy'Mar," Obi-Wan protested softly, soothingly. "She is doing what she can."

"It's clearly effective, isn't it?" bellowed Sy'Mar, making a wide gesture to the cell he was in. He chuckled derisively. "I'm stuck in this cell here, can't see a thing. Tell me, friend of the Hand, has she been setting the innocent prisoners free? Has she told the Hands to hit the road, since they're both outsiders and have no real place here? Has she even protested to that lover of hers?"

Obi-Wan bent his head and scratched his neck uncomfortable. "Some people value certain things above others," he muttered.

"Oh, I see. A romance with an adulterous Human is worth the death of the very people who welcomed her warmly when no one else would have her? It's worth erasing seventeen years of companionship, love, safety…?"

"I'm not justifying her actions, Sy'Mar," Obi-Wan asserted firmly. "She has done wrong. But so have you. You allowed this to happen for months. And now that the tables have turned on you, you have something to say against it. I understand that it's hard to step out of yourself sometimes and see something for what it really is," Obi-Wan couldn't help it; an image of Xanatos flashed in his mind, "and late is better than never, but don't be so hard on her. It's difficult for her, too."

"So just who are you, _friend_ of the Hand? You sure don't sound like a friend to him."

Obi-Wan shrugged. "He's no friend of mine. Why he claims it, I don't know. But I'm here to save you, to save everyone in these cells, to save Vlenaria from any more murders."

"Does the _righteous_ Hand know this?" Sy'Mar asked bitterly.

"He does, but there's no stopping me when I set my mind on something."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Obi-Wan. I'm a Jedi."

All the anger washed away from Sy'Mar's face. He sank back onto the cot and rubbed his face vigorously. "Jedi? Why don't you just whip out your lightsaber and kill the guards?"

Obi-Wan shook his head. "If only it were that easy, but then I'd be no better than they. They aren't the enemies. They're doing what they are told because they are easily influenced by authority. They're doing what you and Serina did. Xanatos and the other Hand are the ones that are to blame. I…I can't confront Xanatos alone. His fighting is…too perfect. The only way to defeat him is to beat him at his own game, but I need to find out what his motivation is first. I can't even _begin_ to imagine what interest Xanatos has in this cult, except to feed his already overgrown ego. I can't imagine him getting a better high the one he gets when he can convince people to kill each other just because he ordered it."

_Why are you telling _him_ this?_

Sy'Mar patted the empty area beside him on his cot.

Understanding and feeling totally relieved, Obi-Wan sat beside Sy.

"We didn't start killing people until the Hands came around. Look into the murders. See if they have any significance to either of the Hands."

Obi-Wan nodded. "That's a good start. My master and the Princess Vlarina were looking into that. But none of us can figure out why the Princess's death is significant to Xanatos. If we knew who the other Hand is, we could see. Perhaps the Princess and the Hand have a past?"

"The Princess wasn't the only one to get killed. We killed the kid in that field. I think his name was Fyn'Mar. I don't see the significance in that. Perhaps to get attention…but…that's sort of…opposite of what I would think…"

"No…that was Xanatos's order."

"Huh?"

Obi-Wan jumped to his feet. That made sense, even if nothing else did. "Xanatos wanted attention. He wanted the Jedi to come here. Maybe that's even why the Princess had to be killed. Nobody else would have asked for foreign assistance except the King."

Sy'Mar shook his head. "It doesn't make sense to me. Why would he want the Jedi to destroy him?"

Obi-Wan sighed. "He _hates_ the Jedi. He wanted Qui-Gon and me to take the mission. He's out for revenge, as always. And now it makes perfect sense."

"That's all well and good, but…there is a problem. Why Vlenaria…and why this cult?" The voice, however, was not Sy'Mar's. It was deep, cultured. It was Xanatos's.

/ - / - / - / - / - /

**Author's Note:** This chapter is really short (my chapters are getting shorter and shorter each update!), but I had to end it here. It was a perfect ending. Don't worry, I have the rest of the conversation in the next chapter and I promise it won't be a long wait. I'm so excited; I've introduced at least two new complications in this chapter and one of them is really juicy. I love myself. :P

So…what did you think? Is it getting better and better or… :( worse and worse? _Review, review, review!_ They inspire me to write more!


	8. Chapter 8: Conflicted

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Jedi Apprentice or Star Wars; Jude Watson and George Lucas do.

WARNING: no graphic scene or anything, but Obi-Wan thinks to himself a lot in this chapter. And he has a bit of angst too. If that bothers you, then I'm sorry. You have been warned.

**A Believer's Circle**

Chapter 8

_Conflicted_

Obi-Wan froze.

Xanatos turned his head back ever so slightly with a smile playing at his lips. "Serina, this one dies first," he said, pointing to Sy'Mar.

Although no killing force was being administered in the gesture, Obi-Wan stepped in front of Sy'Mar.

"Protective, are we? He doesn't even like you."

"Why are you doing this? You're going to kill him because he has a mind of his own?"

Xanatos chuckled. "He's in the way of my plans. He's _always_ been in the way."

Obi-Wan clenched his teeth. "I'm in the way of your plans, too. Why not me?"

Xanatos lifted a finely shaped eyebrow. "Do you want me to kill you, too? You are, after all, in a blocked off cell. I can give the guards orders to keep you here. I'll handle your lightsaber." When Obi-Wan didn't offer a response, he shrugged and continued. "Besides, I have you already taken care of."

"Taken care of?"

"Yes…taken care of. As in, not a problem. You're under my thumb and you don't even know it."

_Don't attack him._

Malice glinted in Xanatos's eyes. "Oh, I so enjoy your company, though. Maybe I could keep you as a pet?"

_Please don't attack him. He's baiting you_.

"You don't have anything to say?"

_Why is he acting like this? He's so different…he's…_

"Xanatos," Serina's full voice cut through the tension, "leave him alone. He's your friend." She forced a laugh.

He half turned. "Do you think he's my friend? Is that what you really think? He's conspiring against me, in case you haven't noticed. I've showed him boundless—ugh—"

Serina jumped back and stared at Xanatos, who rubbed his jaw where Obi-Wan had punched him. She took another few steps back tentatively.

"What do you want me to say? That I'm sorry? Did I hurt your widdy biddy feelings?"

Obi-Wan brushed past him and strode out of the prison ward, the laughter spilling out into the hallway as he emerged. The guards didn't even turn to look at him.

_You knew this was going to happen._

_You're overreacting. You never even liked him in the first place! And you knew he never liked you, either!_

_You shouldn't have lashed out in anger. He baited you, and you knew it and fell for it anyway. You're no Jedi._

_But what was that in his expression? Did he really feel such contempt for you? How sad…_

Obi-Wan forced himself to breathe as he hurried down the hall and to the lift so he could descend to the floor on which his room was located. He was glad he still chose to wear the hood over his face. He didn't want anyone seeing that pained expression. Though it was rippling around him—certainly Xanatos sensed it. And reveled in it.

_That asshole._

_Why are you so mad?_

_Anger is a path you don't want to take._

_You never liked him in the first place._

_Shut up!_

_You're not supposed to feel this way. You should never have allowed him to touch you like that. Physical contact leads to emotional dependencies. You should have consulted with Qui-Gon first. He would have thought of a better way. _

_What am I going to tell him now?_

_Stop thinking so much. Who cares? Xanatos was my enemy before and he never stopped. He's the one who is killing all those people. He's going to kill Sy'Mar and Kahn'Mar and several others who'd never done anything to deserve it, other than follow his orders. He has always been the enemy. _

_Why does it feel like it changed somewhere along the way?_

Somehow, he found his way back to his chamber. He punched in the code, entered, and threw himself on the bed. A nap…maybe a nap will help clear his mind. And if that didn't work, there was always meditation.

/ - / - / - / - / - /

Obi-Wan wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep. He hadn't counted the seconds, minutes, hours since he'd first closed his eyes. But his head felt cloudy and his eyes were slow to open. But something cool was stroking his forehead. Feathery-light strokes across the cheek and forehead. Whispery sighs across bare skin.

"Tsk tsk. Are you always so moody?"

It was that sultry, husky, seductive croon that was all too familiar to him now.

Obi-Wan rolled his head, grumbling about an ache in his neck from the awkward position.

"You need to do some shaving. Lots of peach fuzz." More caresses to his cheek. "Open your eyes, Obi-Wan. I know you're awake and conscious."

Obi-Wan obeyed and stared up into Xanatos's smooth face. He moved in Xanatos's strong arms as if he wanted to resist being held, but it was more like a quick jerk and then he relaxed again. "What are you doing here?" he murmured.

"I'm here to make sure you didn't drown yourself over your first love."

Something told him to push Xanatos away, but his arms felt just as groggy as his head and he didn't move. "I never cared about you."

"Trust me, this bruise on my jaw is evidence that you do care, and it pleases me. Do you want to kiss me?"

"No."

"Do you want me to kiss you?"

"No."

"I think you're just scared." He waved to the sealed door dismissively. "That, out there, was all for show."

"It's always for show with you," Obi-Wan said, sitting up and leaning away from his adversary. Then, as he sat there staring into Xanatos's malicious blue eyes, he felt a wave of an entirely new emotion wash over him. He wanted Xanatos to hurt. To hurt real bad. He winced, recoiling away from that emotion and away from Xanatos—and fell off the bed.

Xanatos chuckled from atop the bed and peered over the edge at Obi-Wan's sprawled form. "Something bite you?"

Obi-Wan shuddered. "A really poisonous snake," he replied, unconsciously rubbing his neck where Xanatos had left a few love bites.

Xanatos grinned. "Are we speaking in code now?"

"Have we really ever spoken in any other way? Or…should I say, have _you_ ever spoken in any other way?"

Xanatos shrugged. "So I've trouble expressing myself emotionally. Sue me."

Obi-Wan snorted and stood up.

"It's true. I think Qui-Gon and the rest of the lot there stunted my emotional expression. How else do you think the Jedi can be so calm and collected all the time? They've got to temper their emotions at a young age. I escaped, but not with—"

"—Your sanity," Obi-Wan finished dryly.

"You jest."

"No, I'm serious."

"Are we still speaking in code?"

Obi-Wan balled his hands at his side and turned his face away from Xanatos, his jaw locked. "Why are you here, for real?"

Xanatos rolled his shoulders and then collapsed back onto the bed with a loud thud. "I'd always thought you were intelligent, but this must be the fifth time that I've had to repeat myself for you since you've gotten here. I told you, I wanted to make sure you didn't—"

Obi-Wan stifled a sigh. "That's not why you're here. I'm sick of your games, Xanatos."

Xanatos closed his eyes contentedly. "Do you know, that's the second time you've said my name? I like the way you say my name, how it rolls of your tongue like that. Say it again, won't you?"

Obi-Wan bit his lower lip to keep himself from saying anything.

"I bet it tastes pretty good in your mouth, too. The same way your name tastes in my mouth?"

Obi-Wan turned away. "Where's Serina?"

"She's in her quarters, safe and sound."

"Don't you think you should be in there with her? After all, she's your girlfriend," Obi-Wan muttered, closing his eyes and willing his warring emotions away.

The rush of warmth told him that Xanatos had gotten off the bed and slipped behind him. "No, I'm making sure you're safe and sound. I think you need it more than she does."

_You can do this,_ Obi-Wan. _You're a Jedi._

He faced Xanatos and stared up into those fiery blue eyes with as much strength as he could muster. He squared his shoulders and took a deep breath. "Go back to Serina. I'm not your play toy, and I refuse to be the one with whom you hurt her."

"If we both like it, why stop?"

"I don't. So only you do, and that's reason enough for me."

Xanatos chuckled, covering his mouth. "Is that so?"

"Do you really think that someone who lies and cheats as much as you do; someone who's governed solely by the need for revenge over a death; someone who feels hatred and contempt for those that I love; someone who hurts someone who loves him enough to kill her own family just because he can—do you really think I like someone like that?"

His response came as an even grunt and a one-shouldered shrug.

Disbelief written across his face, he shook his head. "We're not friends; we're enemies. I won't talk to you as if we're allies."

"So? What's wrong with reasoning with the enemy? Isn't that better than killing him?"

Xanatos's pout consumed his face—his eyes glittering, his lips crinkled—and Obi-Wan turned away. He had never met someone who could change his features so easily, just at the drop of a hat—whatever he needed to fit his situations. But of course, Xanatos had learned this early on. Qui-Gon Jinn had told him about this. No one wonder Qui-Gon ignored the signs—Xanatos could pull anything off.

"You know I'm right, so stop turning away from me. Look at me."

"You're not getting anything from me."

"Except the satisfaction of making you miserable; no, of course not."

"Leave."

"Do you really think you are in any position to boss me around? I have all these cultists around here who would murder themselves just because I told them to. Don't underestimate my influence—"

"I _don't_." _Trust me_.

"All right, then, why don't we go for a walk up above? I know you and Serina—"'

"I'm not going anywhere with you. I'm going to free this…cult from your clutches, and going for a walk with you has nothing to do with that; so no. Go on a walk with yourself."

"Honesty is your best attribute."

"And _your_ worst."

"But I just told the truth; doesn't that count?" Another pout.

Obi-Wan wanted to scratch his nails across marble skin. "Unbelievable."

Xanatos reached out to trace the shadows that fell across Obi-Wan's cheek, but Obi-Wan took a few steps back. "I won't let you hurt them."

"Always back to business. Is that what this is about?"

Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes. "That's what this has _always_ been about."

Xanatos waved his hand in the air dismissively. "Well, if you really insist on having nothing to do with me, then I suppose I'll just have to accept defeat." He bowed his head in faux surrender.

Obi-Wan crossed his arms and waited for Xanatos to leave. He was not going to deal with him, anymore. He'd find some other way to liberate the cult from Xanatos.

/ - / - / - / - / - /

Qui-Gon Jinn shifted his weight with a frown. "It's been too long."

The Princess Vlarina sighed. "Well, what do you suggest we do? I don't think you could successfully pass as a teenager in their little cult, so your only other option would be to walk right in—but, remember, if you associate yourself with Obi-Wan, you will be the reason for his death. They will kill him if you threaten them."

He turned and looked into her pale face, her round light eyes, her thick lips. He could never read her emotions, but she always seemed to be on the lookout for the best opportunities. She's been thus far as helpful as she could be, even though neither she nor he had gotten any further in their search than figuring out that Xanatos was behind it.

"I don't suggest we face them head on; there is too many of them, and they've been brainwashed. They don't deserve instant death. I believe they would be perfectly harmless as long as we took care of Xanatos." His frown deepened at the thought of Obi-Wan being alone with that deceitful man for…how long had it been? Two weeks?

He trusted Obi-Wan—his padawan was talented, intelligent, headstrong, physically built, and confident (but not to the point of arrogance)—but Xanatos was undeniably talented himself. Xanatos had struck him as different immediately when he saw how flawless Xanatos was—any mistake Xanatos made was entirely new to him. Of course, there were flaws—like arrogance and anger and hate—but those were powerful allies in their own way, and Xanatos used them, as he had for so many years, to his advantage. If he engaged Obi-Wan in a fight…Obi-Wan might not walk away from it.

"You think he's the only one responsible? Didn't Obi-Wan say that there were two pulling the strings?"

Qui-Gon took in a deep breath. "Xanatos doesn't work underneath anyone, and I'm certain he doesn't share power, either. Either he has this other Hand thinking they are equally leading this group and is planning to betray her, or the second Hand is knowingly playing the fool."

The princess pressed her lips together as she crossed the room to stand beside the Jedi at the window. They stood in a long silence before he broke it. "Aside from that, Obi-Wan says she is hardly ever there. He's never seen her."

"He's only been there for a short while."

Qui-Gon nodded. "Obi-Wan suggested we look for information concerning the victims, see if they have any past dealings with Xanatos. Perhaps he's out for revenge."

"All right." Vlarina nodded to the door. "I can show you our files now, if you'd like."

"That would be very much appreciated."

Qui-Gon followed the Princess down a maze of corridors, troubled that Obi-Wan was sleeping so close to Xanatos, that he was so close to be spun into one of the dark Jedi's fatal webs. He couldn't help but think that this was a horrible thing.

/ - / - / - / - / - /

**Author's Note:** -screams- This is only half of my goal word count, but I felt so terrible for not updating in so long! I'm so sorry! This has been sitting on my computer for more than a month, untouched, and I felt guilty. I promise, even if it takes me three months to come up with something, I will never have a chapter this short in this story ever again. I feel like I accomplished nothing in this chapter. Next chapter, however, I will be returning to my notes and actually advancing the plot (the plot was supposed to advance here, but I lost my momentum during the part between Qui-Gon and Vlarina, so I'll probably just continue it next chapter when I'm not being crazily lazy).

Oh, and is it just me, or does the part with Obi-Wan reaction to Xanatos's stupidity strike anyone as odd? I'm not sure what I was thinking while I wrote that. It wasn't part of my plan at all. I was probably brooding myself.

Thank you _all_ for your reviews. They make me happy (and guilty, too).


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